Kevin Dayton
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Excerpt:
Critics of the minimum wage proposal observed that businesses ranging from McDonalds to Target to Starbucks already pay their employees more than the minimum that lawmakers are proposing to set at the beginning of next year, which suggests the bill won’t provide much relief to low-wage workers.
The organization Young Progressives Demanding Action argues that the proposed minimums are “far less than the more than $17 per hour that’s needed for a single adult to afford their basic needs.”
The tax credits for lower income workers will help, but “the refundable EITC provision in this bill fails to make up the difference in these wages,” according to testimony submitted by the group.