The Commission on
Salaries on Thursday will
consider finalizing recommendations that would give the governor a series of pay raises totaling 27% until mid-2030, in addition to 44% overall pay increases for state legislators over the next five years.
State judges would see their salaries jump a total of 32% through 2030.
The commission’s consideration of raises for state officials follows earlier salary recommendations for city officials that set off a political firestorm, followed by overwhelming pushback from Honolulu voters.
In 2023 the City Council received 64% pay raises, as recommended by the city’s Salary Commission, that increased Council salaries to $113,304, up from $68,904. Three Council members refused their raises.
The commission is chaired by Colleen Hanabusa, a former state Senate president, former member of Congress and current chair of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation.
The commission’s much smaller raise of nearly 12.6% for Mayor Rick Blangiardi in 2023 gave Blangiardi a larger salary than Gov. Josh Green, who earns $189,480.
In January the commission had been considering that Hawaii’s governor receive a 61% pay raise over six years, in part to put the governor’s salary on par with the Honolulu mayor’s.
On Jan. 30, however, Green’s Chief of Staff Brooke Wilson testified before the commission that Green was “not concerned with ‘catching up to the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu,’” according to a summary of the commission’s salary recommendations presented to the commission last week.
Wilson, the commission was told at its March 3 meeting, said Green believed that a raise of 35% to 40% “may be appropriate for the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor. The Governor referenced a ‘value package’ that they receive. The Lieutenant Governor has a driver; and the Governor has a home, driver and food allowance.”
In a text to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Monday, Green wrote, “Initial proposals for large salary increases over 6 years didn’t seem right and didn’t sit well with me, so I thank the commission for considering my input and reducing the proposed raises, given the everyday struggles of our working people to make ends meet. Still, given any significant increases in salary for the Office of the Governor, Jaime and I plan to increase our charitable giving to children’s hunger programs, programs for the homeless and other nonprofits that serve our most vulnerable residents.”
The proposed raises for Hawaii’s executive and legislative branches — along with the judicial branch — come as both Green and state legislators maintain that they are committed to lowering the cost of living, especially for Hawaii’s
working- and lower-class families, who continue to relocate to states with lower costs of living.
In 2024 the state Legislature passed — and Green signed into law — historic tax breaks over the next six years that began in January, among ongoing efforts to lower costs and leave
more money in residents’ pockets.
The commission’s latest state salary recommendations also include raises for the governor’s Cabinet members, who lead state departments, and their
deputies.
“Tier 1” directors are paid $188,400, and their deputies earn $173,316. “Tier 2” directors earn $179,436
and their deputies make $165,048.
According to the Salary Commission’s pay recommendations for Hawaii’s executive branch, “Executives in the public service invariably work extended hours; participate in community service events, forums and meetings; be accessible on a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week basis for emergency situations; and exercise effective leadership in addressing emergency and crisis situations. Many could easily secure higher paying jobs in the private sector but instead chose to take on these high impact, high
profile, demanding and time-limited jobs because of their commitment to public service. It was also noted by the Commission that directors and deputy directors are generally at the top of their professions, often with graduate degrees (including JDs, MDs, Masters’, PhDs in various fields) and several years of specialized experience qualifying them for the positions. Because of these reasons, it can be very difficult to attract and recruit for director and deputy director positions.”
For the executive branch the biggest pay raise — 15% — would kick in July 1 for Green, Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, state directors and their deputies.
For each of the next three years, their salaries would jump 4% through 2030 for total raises of 27% over five years.
State legislators would not receive raises for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
In 2026, Green, Luke, all 51 House members and
13 of the 25-member state Senate seats are up for
election.
But legislators would then see a 32% pay hike beginning Jan. 1 2027.
They would also get 4% annual raises for each of 2028, 2029 and 2030 for a total of 44% over three years.
The House speaker and Senate president would see their salaries jump to $128,052 by 2030. Legislators would earn $114,348 in 2030.
In a statement to the Star-Advertiser, House Speaker Nadine Nakamura said, “The House appreciated the opportunity to provide testimony to the Salary Commission and recognize its members for their dedication and thorough work in developing their recommendations. Once their recommendations are finalized, we will carefully review them. While the legislative session lasts 60 days, lawmakers serve their communities year-round in a full-time capacity. The Salary Commission’s review is critical to ensuring that salaries of the Legislature, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Department Heads, and Judges appropriately reflect the scope and demands of their responsibilities.”
In 2023, after six of the nine Honolulu Council members accepted their 64% pay increases, the Council rejected a subsequent 3% raise in 2024, an election year.
Honolulu voters
responded at the ballot box anyway in 2024 by capping future Council pay raises at 5% annually through a City Charter amendment.
The amendment also requires any future Council salary increases to equal the average of the most recent annual salary changes for the city’s various collective bargaining units.
And voters stripped the Council’s authority to vote on its own raises.
An astounding 90.3% of voters approved the amendments to the City Charter.
Should the commission adopt its proposed raises for all three branches of state government Thursday, as expected, legislators still have the ability to reject them.
By law the Legislature can turn down the Salary Commission’s annual pay recommendations before the end of each legislative session by a simple majority vote in both the House and Senate.
The first opportunity will come this year if the Legislature decides to hold a vote — and vote — before it adjourns May 2.
If not, the commission’s recommendations go into effect when each new fiscal year begins, starting July 1.
