HB2510 proposes a minimum wage increase that delays reaching $18 until the year 2030, is scheduled for a hearing tomorrow, Tuesday March 1. The deadline for testimony is 11am, TODAY Monday 02/28/22. (LATE TESTIMONY IS ACCEPTED)

The Senate has already passed SB2018 “the good minimum wage bill” which achieves the $18 threshold by 2026 AND has received support from the Governor.

Low-wage working families deserve SB2018 and it makes no sense that the House continues to refuse to accept and pass it.

Please offer testimony to the House Finance Committee and tell them
$18 by 2026 is already the compromise. It already costs more than $19 an hour to just survive in Hawaiʻi today. Waiting until 2030 is unacceptable.

Go to the Capitol Website and Register, Sign-In, and then go to “Testimony” (in that order) – three little steps. It’s easy and it’s important.

Here are the members of the Finance Committee. If your district Representative sits on this committee, please contact them directly as well.

Finance Committee Hearing: Tues., March 1, 11 AM (sign up for zoom if can!)
Testimony Due: Mon., Feb. 28, 11 AM (late testimony also accepted)

Please register here and join Raise Up Hawaii on March 8 as we gather at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol to make our voices heard. Let’s show up in person and send a strong message to legislators that it’s time for them to fulfill their promises and to stand up for working people.

Sample Testimony For HB2510

Raise Up Hawaiʻi continues to recommend submitting testimony in “Opposition” to HB2510, but we understand if some folks would prefer “Comments” or “Support with Amendments.” The most important thing is to hammer home the message:
 
Dear House Committee on Finance,
 
Although I support some of the provisions in this bill, I must respectfully submit my opposition to HB2510. It already costs more than $19 an hour for a single adult with no children to just barely make ends meet in Hawaiʻi today.
 
This bill would only get workers to $18 by 2030—far too slow. By 2026, HB2510 would put workers at $14 an hour, which is almost the exact equivalent of where workers were left in 2018 with $10.10—more than $7 short of a living wage. 
 
Workers can’t keep treading water. It is absolutely imperative that we reach $18 an hour by 2026 if working families are to find the economic relief that the legislature has promised to provide. Even this will be short of a true living wage, but it will put tens of thousands of working families closer to self-sufficiency than they’ve been in decades. Anything less than that is simply too slow.
 
The Senate has handed the House a clean $18 by 2026 bill in SB2018. It is now up to the House to do what is best for Hawaiʻi’s hardworking families and for its economic health and agree to the Senate proposal.
 
Send SB2018 to the governor’s desk for signature instead of this bill. 
 
Mahalo for the opportunity to testify.

[Your Name]
[Your Neighborhood or House District]