Bill Text: HI HR55 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Resolution 55 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Labor And Industrial Relations, In Collaboration With The Department Of Agriculture, To Submit A Report Determining A Living Wage Standard For Agricultural Workers Living In The State.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-14 - Referred to LAB/AGR, FIN, referral sheet 33 [HR55 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2019-HR55-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	55
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, TO SUBMIT A REPORT DETERMINing A LIVING WAGE StaNDARD FOR AGRICULTURAL WORKERS LIVING IN THE STATE.

WHEREAS, "living wage" is defined as a wage sufficient to provide the necessities and comforts essential to an acceptable standard of living; and

WHEREAS, agricultural workers employed in the State earn wages less than other states and their wages are below living wage standards; and

WHEREAS, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an hourly wage of $15.73 is considered livable in the State of Hawai�i; and

WHEREAS, the shortage of agricultural workers has posed a significant challenge to Governor David Ige's Sustainable Hawai�i Initiative, which plans on doubling local food production by 2020 and additionally, in the long term, to locally produce twenty percent of food by 2050 under the 2050 Sustainability Plan; and

WHEREAS, increasing the wages earned by agricultural workers will incentivize individuals to pursue an occupation in the agricultural workforce; and

WHEREAS, competitive wages in the agriculture sector will contribute in the retention of skilled individuals employed in the agricultural workforce; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawai�i, Regular Session of 2019, that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, is requested to submit to the Legislature a report determining a living wage standard for agricultural workers living in the State; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report include, but not be limited to, the following:

(1) A breakdown of the average living wage for each county;

(2) The living wage for each county adjusted for employer- provided housing, health insurance, transportation, and meals, as applicable;

(3) A breakdown of the average living expenses for an agricultural worker living in each county;

(4) The current median wage earned by agricultural workers in the State;

(5) Annual data of local food production in the State since 2000; and

(6) Annual data of agricultural workers employed in the State since 2000; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, is requested to submit the report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2020; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Labor and Industrial Relations, and Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture.