Coalition responds to legislature's "2020 cost of living" bill package

The “2020 Cost of Living Initiative” proposed by the Hawaiʻi State Legislature and endorsed by the governor, seeks to provide targeted solutions to help the 48% of Hawaiʻi families living paycheck to paycheck. This package aims to address minimum wage, affordable housing, early education, and public land use. More on proposed package at bit.ly/cb-120.

While we appreciate the efforts of the legislature and the Governor to address the increasingly out of reach cost of living for working families, we and 33 other organizations have substantive concerns with the package. Today, we issued the letter below to Hawaiʻi’s lawmakers calling for solutions to address the needs of Hawaiʻi’s working families without incentivizing poorly planned development, risking precious agricultural lands, or undermining strong labor protections. Read the letter below or at http://bit.ly/CGC_letter_2020.