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A key Senate committee has failed to seize an opportunity to bolster public faith: it postponed, rather than scrapped, 10% pay raises slated for 76 state lawmakers. Through House Bill 117, the Senate Ways and Means Committee last week moved to defer — by six months, to July 2021 — raises that lift legislator salaries to $68,868.
This pay hike can’t be justified when more than a third of Hawaii’s labor force is sidelined by coronavirus shutdowns. Even in a healthy economy, the raise seems excessive given the annual 60-day session, spread across four months. In recent years, that has left ample time for many lawmakers to hold down other careers.
Expect retail rebound to take a while
The last-minute Christmas retail rush, this was not. Visitors to malls reopening last weekend were mainly the curious, the window-shoppers coming to glimpse the new normal. What they found — mainly takeout eateries, and a few boutiques — wasn’t all there, yet.
We hope things continue to ramp up. It would be smart to check out websites to see what’s open when, and to order ahead, where possible.
The road to recovery will be paved with many dollars. Those customers who can afford to part with a few definitely should.
