Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
Hawaiʻi House Minority Leader Lauren Cheape Matsumoto (R) explained how the state Salary Commission works and shares her take on recently proposed legislative salary increases during a Civil Beat panel.
The proposed pay package includes an initial 32% raise for state lawmakers that would increase their salaries from $74,160 today to $97,896 effective Jan. 1, 2027.
Those raises for lawmakers would be followed by 4% pay increases in each of the following two years and another 8% pay increase on Jan. 1, 2030, for a total 48% pay increase over six years. At the end of the six years, rank-and-file lawmakers would make $114,348.
Her counterpart, Majority Leader Sean Quinlan (D), said during the event that legislators need time to digest the proposal, which must be voted on by both the House and Senate.
“I think a lot of us will be hearing directly from our districts, our constituents about how they feel about it,” he said.
💭 Chime in below: Do you feel the salary increases are fair? Why or why not?
Hawaiʻi House Minority Leader Lauren Cheape Matsumoto (R) explained how the state Salary Commission works and shares her take on recently proposed legislative salary increases during a Civil Beat panel.
The proposed pay package includes an initial 32% raise for state lawmakers that would increase their salaries from $74,160 today to $97,896 effective Jan. 1, 2027.
Those raises for lawmakers would be followed by 4% pay increases in each of the following two years and another 8% pay increase on Jan. 1, 2030, for a total 48% pay increase over six years. At the end of the six years, rank-and-file lawmakers would make $114,348.
Her counterpart, Majority Leader Sean Quinlan (D), said during the event that legislators need time to digest the proposal, which must be voted on by both the House and Senate.
“I think a lot of us will be hearing directly from our districts, our constituents about how they feel about it,” he said.
💭 Chime in below: Do you feel the salary increases are fair? Why or why not?
