Senators negotiating with House members on wage bill

Disagreeing with the wishes of state Senate leaders, senators Thursday opted for conference committee negotiations with the state House over the minimum wage.

Senate leaders had recommended accepting the House version of a bill that would gradually increase the minimum wage to $10 an hour by January 2018 and expand a tip credit to 75 cents. Businesses would be able to deduct the tip credit from workers who earn at least $7 above the minimum wage.

But during a private caucus, senators decided to go into conference on the bill. The Senate does not publicly discuss the details of what happens in private caucus, but sources said the vote was 12-11.

"We had a discussion, and people felt that we didn’t have anything to lose," said Senate President Donna Mercado Kim (D, Kalihi Valley-Moanalua-Halawa).

House and Senate leaders have tried to avoid forming a conference committee on the minimum wage, fearing that the bill might die like a minimum wage increase did last year if either side digs in over a provision in the bill, tempers flare under deadline pressure or lawmakers use the bill for political leverage on other legislation.

Hawaii’s $7.25-an-hour minimum wage has not been raised since 2007. The tip credit is 25 cents.

But Sen. Clayton Hee (D, Heeia-Laie-Waialua), chairman of the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee, said there is little risk to the Senate in holding out for a better bill. If negotiations with the House are not productive, the Senate would still have the option of accepting the House version before the session adjourns in May.

Hee wants to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by January 2017, a target shared by President Barack Obama and many labor and social-service activists.

Hee invoked champions for the working poor like the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink and the late labor activist Ah Quon McElrath.

"They would be in the Senate caucus room urging the senators to do all they can for the working poor," he said. "And that’s what we’re going to do."

Other senators said privately that Hee prevailed in caucus in part because of senators’ reluctance to go against a committee chairman on an issue under the committee’s jurisdiction. More than half of senators lead committees while many others plan to someday so there is a mutual interest is preserving the power of committee chairmen.

Some senators, however, worry that ego and political ownership of the minimum wage in an election year could lead to the kind of brinkmanship that killed a bill in conference last year.

The House approved the minimum wage bill Tuesday with the hopes that the Senate would accept the version and send the legislation to Gov. Neil Abercrombie.

"If the minimum wage bill goes to conference, we’d be willing to listen to the Senate’s perspective," said House Majority Leader Scott Saiki (D, Downtown-Kakaako-McCully). "It doesn’t mean we’re going to agree with the Senate, but we’re open."

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Correction:  State Senate President Donna Mercado Kim was referring to conference committee on the minimum wage bill when she said on Thursday: "We had a discussion and people felt that we didn’t have anything to lose." An earler version of this story and the print-edition version incorrectly said she was referring to accepting the House version of the minimum wage bill.