Supporters of a bill that would increase the minimum wage for 74,000 of Hawaii’s lowest paid workers say the bill could die unless Senate President Donna Kim’s drops her insistence on major new concessions to employers.
House and Senate conferees are scheduled to reconvene this morning for last minute negotiations on SB331.
House and Senate negotiators have to agree on the target amount and the number of years before that higher minimum takes effect. One earlier version of the bill approved by the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor, chaired by Sen. Clayton Hee, set the target at $9.25 an hour by July 1, 2015.
The current version of the bill calls for annual increases starting on January 1, 2014, bringing the minimum to $9.00 by the beginning of 2017.
But a wild card in negotiations has reportedly been Kim’s reported insistence on a $2 “tip credit” for employees who receive tips. This would mean employers could pay $2 less than the minimum wage to workers who receive tips. The $2 tip credit would be the highest in the country, twice that of the next highest state, New York, which gives a $1 tip credit.
Proponents of the minimum wage hike say Kim’s $2 credit is a “poison pill” that will effectively kill the bill.
The current tip credit in Hawaii is just 25 cents, although backers of the new minimum, including the ILWU, have reportedly signaled a willingness to double that amount as part of a deal.
Agreement must be reached and the final version of the bill filed today or the measure is dead.
The minimum wage was last raised in 2007 to the current $7.25. Testimony by the State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations in support of the increase said the minimum would have to reach $9.16 by 2016 just to “have the same purchasing power that the worker had in 2007 at $7.25 an hour.”
According to the department:
Minimum wage earners in Hawaii currently earn $15,080 annually working 40 hours a week for 52 weeks. A person with one child earning $15,080 is $2 770 below the Hawaii poverty level in 2013.
A new study by the National Employment Law Project projects that raising the minimum wage to $9.25 in two years would give a boost to the local economy and generate economic growth by “generating more than $54 million in new economic activity.”
If the minimum is raised to just $9 over a longer period, minimum wage workers would lose $7,800 in potential earnings between now and 2017, the report found.
House conferees are Representatives Nakashima and Luke Co-Chairs; Yamane, Johanson.
Senate Conferees are Senator Hee, Chair; Ige, Co-Chair; Kouchi, Ruderman, Shimabukuro.
Today’s conference meeting is set to begin at 10:30 in conference room 325 at the State Capitol.
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I believe you are mistaken about the deadline to reach an agreement on the minimum wage bill.
The bill has a money committee rerferral in both houses, which means that it must be “decked” by the deadline tomorrow — Friday — night, not today — Thursday.
Thanks for the correction! Glad to hear it has the extra 24 hours.
As of this moment, it turns that the xtra 24 wasn’t enuf, even tho’ it should have been more than.
Anyone versed in the study of economics understands raising the minimum wage is a no brainer. The stimulus to the economy more than compensates any added expenses business will incur. In fact small business is the real winner here. It is unfortunate most small business owners don’t understand this.
The other thing they are not taking into account is that if you compensate your employees a living wage job performance, satisfaction, loyalty and longevity improve. Refusal to pass this legislation is short-sighted. Do we end up in paying more for social services like food stamps, welfare aid and med-Quest? How many of these minimum wage earners are living on the streets and beaches of our state?