Gov. David Ige on Wednesday ensured that thousands of Hawaii workers will receive more money starting in the next few months and continuing for years.

Ige signed a bill that will increase Hawaii’s hourly minimum wage to $12 on Oct. 1 from $10.10, and be followed by three more step-ups through 2028.

The measure passed by the Legislature in May, House Bill 2510, also makes the state’s earned income tax credit refundable and permanent, which will financially benefit many low-­income households the most.

Ige also signed a separate piece of legislation Wednesday, Senate Bill 514, that will deliver $100 or $300 cash rebates to individual tax filers depending on their income, likely beginning in August via direct bank deposit or check.

“I do believe that the measures we are signing today can make a significant impact, and help families in a tangible way, especially working families,” Ige said in the ceremonial room in his office at the state Capitol before a small audience of invited guests that included several lawmakers and bill supporters.

About 190,000 people in Hawaii earn the minimum wage, according to Ige, and the boost will improve their finances and generate spending that helps the broader economy. A rise in the minimum wage also is expected to put upward pressure on pay for people earning more than the minimum.

HB 2510, now Act 114, will move the hourly minimum to $12 on Oct. 1 then to $14 at the start of 2024, followed by increases to $16 in 2026 and finally to $18 in 2028.

Ige noted that the last time a bill was enacted to raise Hawaii’s minimum wage was in 2014 when he was chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee at the Legislature.

“I do know how difficult it is to raise the minimum wage,” he said.

Sen. Brian Taniguchi, chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts, said at the bill-signing ceremony that lawmakers spent the past four years trying to raise what the lowest-paid workers in Hawaii earn.

HB 2510 was passed after a major compromise by House and Senate leaders who started with widely different goals for the minimum wage, and public testimony was sharply split by business interests that generally preferred a lower and slower increase in contrast with advocates of workers who wanted a bigger and faster rise.

Taniguchi (D, Makiki-­Tantalus-Manoa) credited four lawmakers for critical roles in the bill’s passage — Senate President Ron Kouchi (D, Kauai-Niihau) for strong backing; Sen. Les Ihara Jr. (D, Moiliili-Kaimuki-­Palolo) for brokering House-Senate discussions; Rep. Scott Nishimoto (D, McCully-Moiliili-Kapahulu) for guiding a compromise; and House Speaker Scott Saiki (D, Downtown-Kakaako­-McCully) for helping prevent the bill’s death.

“He was there when it looked like the bill was going to die,” Taniguchi said, referring to Saiki.

Including the earned income tax credit in the minimum wage bill adds another layer to boosting income of many workers.

An existing nonrefundable form of the credit is scheduled to expire this year, which means that tax filers who owe no taxes or only a small amount of taxes get less money back than they would if the credit were refundable.

Rep. Sylvia Luke, chair of the House Finance Committee, said the benefit from the new refundable earned income tax credit can be about $400 for a family.

“To make it refundable and to make it permanent, it provides hope for many of the people who are working to just make ends meet,” Luke (D, Punchbowl-­Pauoa-Nuuanu) said at the ceremony.

The refundable credit is something tax filers can claim on their 2022 taxes when they file returns next year.

People who already filed returns this year for 2021 taxes, or file before Dec. 31, will receive the $100 or $300 rebates if they qualify.

Individuals earning under $100,000 are eligible for $300, and the same amount is available for spouses and each dependent. So a family of four earning less than $200,000 would receive $1,200. People with income over $100,000 qualify for the $100 rebate along with spouses and dependents.

Excluded are people convicted of a misdemeanor or felony if they are incarcerated for all of this year, as well as dependents held at a youth correctional facility for all of this year.

Ige proposed $100 rebates during his State of the State address in January, and gave lawmakers credit for enhancing the amount for moderate- and lower-­income residents.

“I’m glad that we were able to return dollars to taxpayers to pay for things like gas and other necessities that are increasing in price,” he said.

The approved rebates are expected to cost $250 million and be distributed to about 1.1 million residents.

Lawmakers also included two other spending provisions in the bill providing the rebates. One provision deposits $500 million into the state’s “rainy day” Emergency and Budget Reserve Fund, and the other deposits $300 million into the state’s underfunded pension fund.