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Author’s Note: The substance of this post was published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on March 23, 2022. Below is the originally drafted, longer commentary.

Recently, as I lay in bed late one night, my brain drifted to frustration over discourse on the minimum wage. The Legislature’s continued deference to the business community and their baseless opposition to increasing the minimum wage in Hawaii. Or really, anywhere.

Whether it’s the Chamber of Commerce, Retail Merchants’ Association, the Restaurant Association, or just about any other staple opponents to the minimum wage, their talking points are tired, rote, and too often contrary to facts.

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Progressives Should be Embarrassed to Support HB2510

NOTE: The legislators named herein are broadly considered “progressive.” There are others who voted “yes” who are members of either the Progressive or Working Families Caucuses but are not generally considered progressives so I didn’t feel the need to include them here.

Today, the Hawaii House of Representatives voted on nearly 30 pages of bills to move forward. It was the First Lateral Filing Deadline.

The one I and many of my colleagues were interested in was HB2510. The bill, “Relating to Income,” included an embarrassing and pathetic attempt to raise Hawaii’s minimum wage. Specifically, it raises the minimum wage to $18 by 2030. Yes, you read that right.

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The legislature sputtered into session in Hawaii earlier this month. Already there has been much talk and speculation about what will be prioritized.

There’s no doubt businesses across Hawaii have struggled since the pandemic forced Hawaii’s economy to grind to a halt. Since then, our elected officials have focused efforts entirely on supporting businesses, leaving Hawaii’s workers flailing without a life-preserver.

With nearly $2 billion more in tax collections to spend, it’s clear our economy is surging back to life. This is the year to focus on working people who were struggling long before the pandemic only made things worse.

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I think everyone can agree that 2021, while better than the prior year, was nonetheless a steaming pile.

COVID-19

As the year began and the promise of a vaccine became reality. There was a collective holding of breaths hoping to see an end to the pandemic and a return to normalcy. Well, as we approach the end of the year, case counts in Hawaii reached a new all-time high well over 3,000. Which is approximately double the number of our last peak at the end of August.

“Omicron” is now raging in Hawaii and there appears to be no end in sight. Though Hawaii’s vaccination rate has slowly crept up to just above 74% statewide.

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I’ve struggled with “depression” for most of my life. I'm still struggling.

Dysthymia

I’ve struggled with “depression” for most of my life. As a teenager, when I first became aware that “something was wrong,” I hadn’t a clue and wrote it off as just low self-esteem, or merely teenage angst. In fact, what I most remember about my middle and high school days was not liking myself really at all and wondering what the hell was wrong with me. But I functioned. I had friends and had fun and did normal teenage things. And because of that, I didn’t think I was “sick”.

It wasn’t until I was nearing the end of my time in college that I knew there was something wrong. But I had been triggered by events that shoved me into (what I consider) full-blown depression. I still have vivid memories of not leaving my bed for the better part of a week. In the first half of my last year, I stopped attending classes. My grades tanked and I was at risk of failing out.

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