HONOLULU -- Hawaii lawmakers are considering raising the state's minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 an hour.

For people trying to survive on minimum wage, any increase would be welcome.

You might have seen Phylicialynn Yee on the corner of Beretania Street and Kapiolani Boulevard.

Her job is to stand on the street and try to get people into a nearby restaurant. She makes $7.25 an hour, minimum wage. It is a part-time job.

Yee brings home $285 every two weeks. She lives with her mother.

She will never get rich doing this, but it's some spending money for a young person.

What if you had to support a family on minimum wage?

Steve is a parking attendant at a lot on Kapiolani Boulevard. He was laid off from his construction job. Now he works for $7.50 an hour. It is hard to get by, he said.

"I bring home $900 a month," Steve said.

He has three children and lives in a studio.

He welcomes the idea of an increase in the minimum wage.

"It would be great, help my family out a lot," Steve said.

The bill being considered by the Senate would adjust the minimum wage according to the consumer price index.

Darrin Hashimoto is about to open a shoe store. He said having to pay his four or five employees $1 an hour more would not hurt him. He said he is more worried about the excise tax.

"The excise tax, because when people go shopping, if they raise the excise tax, to me that means people are not going to shop as often. (They'll) wait for sales to do their shopping. So, it balances out. I don't think it'll help us, will hurt us in the long run," Hashimoto said.

Lawmakers are considering raising the excise tax.

The minimum wage measure passed out of committee on Tuesday afternoon.