132             
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.R. NO.              
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                     HOUSE  RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS TO
   CONDUCT A STUDY ON MINIMUM WAGE LAWS.



 1       WHEREAS, the Legislature supports the fundamental
 2   proposition that the minimum hourly wage paid to an employee
 3   should at least yield a basic "livable wage" to a person
 4   working 2,080 hours per year at the rate of 52 weeks a year and
 5   at 40 hours per week; and
 6   
 7       WHEREAS, the original minimum wage standard, which was
 8   deemed worthy of this spirit and intent, was that the minimum
 9   hourly wage should be one-half the national average hourly wage
10   paid to non-farm, non-supervisory employees; and
11   
12       WHEREAS, a weakness of this standard based on a national
13   average, is that in areas of the country, such as Hawaii, where
14   the cost of living is substantially higher, the federal minimum
15   wage falls far below the original spirit and intent of a fairer
16   minimum wage; and
17   
18       WHEREAS, for instance, during the 1994-1998 period, the
19   cost-of-living differential for the State from the national
20   average has been variously estimated by reputable sources to be
21   somewhere between 25 to 40 per cent; and
22   
23       WHEREAS, accordingly, the Legislature has in recent times
24   provided for a state minimum wage higher than the federal
25   minimum hourly wage; and
26   
27       WHEREAS, a problem has developed over the years, both
28   federally and locally, with keeping the minimum wage current;
29   and
30   
31       WHEREAS, there is an urgent need to always keep the minimum
32   wage current with inflation; and
33   
34       WHEREAS, this is vitally important to low-end wage earners
35   who cannot afford even the slightest erosion of their wages
36   caused by yearly cost-of-living inflation; and
37   
38       WHEREAS, one method to keep the State's minimum wage apace
39   with current inflation rates is to create a formula that
40   calculates the state hourly minimum wage as a function of:

 
Page 2                                   132               
                                  H.R. NO.              
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1       (1)  The national average hourly wage; and
 2   
 3       (2)  The cost-of-living differential percentage between
 4            Hawaii's cost-of-living and the average cost-of-living
 5            for the continental United States;
 6   
 7   and
 8   
 9       WHEREAS, such a formula would provide an automatic yearly
10   cost-of-living adjustment to the minimum wage so that it helps
11   Hawaii's employees keep up with annual cost-of-living
12   inflation; now, therefore,
13   
14       BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
15   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
16   of 1999, that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations
17   (DLIR) is requested to conduct a study on minimum wage laws;
18   and
19   
20       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this study include:
21   
22       (1)  An examination of section 387-2, Hawaii Revised
23            Statutes (HRS), to determine its relevancy and
24            appropriateness;
25   
26       (2)  A formula by which the State's hourly minimum wage can
27            be automatically adjusted to keep up with the annual
28            cost-of-living inflation; and
29   
30       (3)  Proposed changes to section 387-2, HRS;
31   
32   and
33   
34       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DLIR submit its findings and
35   recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days
36   before the convening of the Regular Session of 2000; and
37   
38       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this
39   Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Labor and
40   Industrial Relations.
41 
42 
43 
44                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________