Ige signs minimum wage increase, tax refund bills into law

Gov. David Ige on Wednesday signed a bill to raise Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage for the first time in four years and to make the earned income tax credit permanent and refundable.

Also included in the bill is a measure to solidify the earned income tax credit, which had been at risk of lapsing. Unlike the federal earned income tax credit, the state version had previously been nonrefundable.

The new EITC law permits qualified low- to moderate-income workers to be eligible for a refundable tax credit.