8 states to boost minimum wage in 2012

Eight states will ring in the new year with a higher minimum wage, under state laws that require wage floors to keep apace with inflation.

San Francisco, one of the few cities that sets its own minimum wage above the federal level, is also raising wages for the lowest-paid workers in the new year. It will become the first big city in the country to require companies to pay their workers more than $10 an hour.

The minimum wage increases in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington will be 28 cents to 37 cents an hour, according to the National Employment Law Project. That is an extra $582 to $770 a year for a full-time minimum wage worker and resets these states’ minimum wages to $7.64 to $9.04 an hour.

At that higher end is Washington state, which will become the first state in the nation to set its minimum wage above $9 an hour. For reference, the federal wage floor for most workers is $7.25 an hour, which is what it is in Hawaii.

Federal agriculture reports earn reprieve

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has decided to reverse a decision to eliminate dozens of long-standing statistical reports on a wide range of farming activities.

The agency’s statistics service said in October that it was forced by budget constraints to cut the reports and that doing so would save $11 million a year.

That led to an outcry from farm groups that said the information collected by the agency was essential.

Saved are the reports on trout farming, catfish farming, floriculture, sheep and goats, bees and honey production and mink farming, among others.

Criticism greets new truck safety rules

WASHINGTON » Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood laid out rules last week on the number of hours that truckers can stay on the road in an effort to curb deadly accidents caused by driver fatigue. But neither the trucking industry nor safety advocates appeared satisfied.

The new rules, which take effect July 1, 2013, reduce the number of hours truckers can work in a week to 70 hours from 82 but retain the Bush-era limit of 11 hours behind the wheel each day. Safety advocates had pushed for a 10-hour limit. Truckers also must work no more than eight hours without taking a 30-minute break.

"This final rule will help prevent fatigue-related truck crashes and save lives," LaHood said in a statement. "Truck drivers deserve a work environment that allows them to perform their jobs safely."

Trucking companies that let drivers stay on the road more than 11 hours could face fines of $11,000, and individual drivers could face civil penalties of as much as $2,750.

Bill Graves, president and CEO of the American Trucking Association, said the new rules would be costly.

"Both the trucking industry and consumers will suffer the impact of reduced productivity and higher costs," said Dan England, chairman of the American Trucking Association.

To some highway safety advocates, the rules don’t go far enough.

"Most truck drivers admit they drive while tired, and nearly half said they fell asleep behind the wheel at least once in the previous year under the existing rule," said Henry Jasny, vice president and general counsel of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. "By keeping the unsafe portion of the rule that permits truckers to drive for 11 consecutive hours, department officials have broken their promise to make safety their No. 1 priority."

Fed extends public comment on Volcker rule

WASHINGTON » The Federal Reserve and other bank regulators announced Friday they will give the public an extra month to comment on a proposed regulation aimed at limiting the kind of risky trading that made the 2008 financial crisis worse.

The proposed rule, named for former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, has triggered opposition by financial service firms who say the draft measure is confusing and will be hard to implement.

The rule is part of a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations passed by Congress in 2010. It is aimed at prohibiting banks from trading in stocks, bonds or derivatives that they own. They will only be able to trade on behalf of clients. The Volcker Rule is expected to take effect by July. Banks would have until July 2014 to comply.

Many financial firms made big bets on bonds backed by mortgages and ended up losing billions of dollars when the financial crisis hit. The government had to step in and bail out some of the institutions.

ON THE MOVE

CBRE has appointed Kim Lord as senior managing director of the firm’s Hawaii region. She was previously a managing director of CBRE’s Institutional Services in Hawaii. Lord joined CBRE in 2001 as senior vice president of Asset Services.

Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement has announced that Marina Loew has joined Hawaiian Community Assets for one year of service. Loew is one of five current CNHA AmeriCorps Vista volunteers and is originally from Ithaca, N.Y.

Hawaii Pacific Federal Credit Union has collected 153 donations of toys, gift cards and household items from more than 100 of its members for the 2011 Lokahi Giving Project. The federal credit union has participated in the Lokahi Giving Project every year since 2002.

Hawaiian Springs LLC, a premium natural bottled water company which draws its water from the base of Mauna Loa on Hawaii island, has entered the New York retail market through distribution at 170 locations, including 30 Gristedes stores in Manhattan, Westchester and Brooklyn, as well as 140 other independent market retailers throughout New York City. The addition of the New York Metro market has increased Hawaiian Springs’ retailer presence on the mainland by 25 percent in 2011.