State Legislature

In his State of the State address, Gov. David Ige outlined what drives his priorities in his final year. The Conversation talked to House Finance Chair and Rep. Sylvia Luke about what the governor highlighted and perhaps left unsaid.

The 2022 legislative session kicked off its first hearing with the hot topic of increasing the state minimum wage. The bill proposes to incrementally increase the state’s minimum wage, currently $10.10 an hour, to $18 by 2026.

The House of Representatives gave a mostly favorable response to Gov. David Ige's State of the State address. State Rep. Sylvia Luke thought it was touching to see him present his emotional side to the public.

Gov. David Ige is proposing refunding $100 to every taxpayer and dependent as the economy and tax receipts recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

An education advocacy group aims to improve mental health services in Hawaiʻi schools with several measures during this 2022 legislative session.

The state Legislature will once again take up the issue of raising the minimum wage this session. But one group of Hawaiʻi workers is already guaranteed to have an increase.

Hawaiʻi Gov. David Ige delivered his final State of the State address to the state Legislature on Jan. 24, 2022. Ige said his goals are to steer Hawaiʻi through the pandemic, strengthen families and communities, and move toward full economic recovery.

The Environmental Legislative Caucus proposed 10 bills that focus on issues such as reducing carbon emissions and protecting native birds and bats.

State Rep. Patrick Branco is introducing a bill that makes advertising for unlicensed goods and services illegal. HB1516 affects businesses without state or county licensing.

State lawmakers returned to do the people's work as the 2022 legislative session kicked off this week. Among the top priorities is Hawaiʻi's housing crisis. HPR's Noe Tanigawa joined The Conversation to talk about that and how Hawaiʻi could learn from Singapore's "social housing" system.