For policymakers, addressing the issue of low wages has been a start and stop exercise. To the Hawai\u02bbi State Legislature\u2019s credit, it has made significant strides in addressing low wages for working families by passing an historic increase in the minimum wage, raising it to $18 an hour by 2028. This has ensured greater economic stability for thousands of Hawai\u02bbi families, and has put us on a path toward having one of the highest minimum wages in the country.<\/p>\n But despite these gains, affordability remains a persistent challenge. Raising the minimum wage is a good start, as raising the wage floor can push wages up for other workers in the economy. But for those earning the minimum wage, the hard truth is that $18 an hour just isn\u2019t enough to live in Hawai\u02bbi. For example, Aloha United Way\u2019s ALICE Report<\/a> shows that the survival wage for a single adult in Hawai\u02bbi is already $19.96 an hour \u2014 that\u2019s just the wage needed to survive, not necessarily what\u2019s needed to get ahead.<\/p>\n If we are truly going to address persistent low wages for Hawai\u02bbi\u2019s workers, it may be time for us to look beyond adjusting the minimum wage and explore what a truly living wage looks like for Hawai\u02bbi. But that process still begs a few questions about the proposal itself and how it might be implemented. Working through some of the technical and legal details of this proposal we address a few of those questions here:<\/p>\n Should there be a minimum wage specific to the City and County of Honolulu?<\/p>\n That is the only issue presented by this proposal. The proposal does not dictate which employers must pay the wage, how the wage would be calculated, or the enforcement mechanisms. If voters approve the proposal, all of those details would be worked out by the City Council in an ordinance.<\/p>\n Does the city have the power to set a minimum wage?<\/p>\n Yes. The state of Hawai\u2018i grants all counties the authority to exercise general police powers \u2014 the ability to enact laws to protect health, life, and general welfare of residents \u2014 as long as the county law does not contradict or interfere with state law. Minimum wage laws are a classic exercise of the government\u2019s general police powers.<\/p>\n Would a city minimum wage law conflict with the state minimum wage?<\/p>\n No. Similar to the county-state relationship, the state may exercise its general police powers as long as state law does not contradict or interfere with federal law. State minimum wage laws are not preempted by the federal minimum wage. For the same reasons, a city minimum wage would not interfere with the state minimum wage.<\/p>\n Nothing in the proposal would require the City Council to impose the wage standard on all possible employers. There could be carve-outs, for example, for mom-and-pop companies that only have a few employees.<\/p>\n What it does mean is that the city can ensure national corporations that operate in Honolulu, like Walmart and Amazon, provide local residents with fair compensation for their work. The City Council would have the discretion to draw those lines because the proposal expressly provides that the wage standard is only \u201cenforceable as provided by ordinance.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Let-the-Sunshine-In.png\")
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Fortunately, voters in the City and County of Honolulu may have a once-in-a-decade opportunity to make their voices heard on whether the county should pursue a living wage policy. If approved by voters, this proposal<\/a> would instruct the city to begin developing a framework for implementing a living wage for Honolulu County.<\/p>\n![\"Voters](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/241105-dc-Election-HNLHale-5720-1024x683.jpg\")
Honolulu voters will have the opportunity to vote on a number of city charter amendments in November, including an increase in the minimum wage. (David Croxford\/Civil Beat\/2024)<\/p>\n
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