Assembly approves 15 minimum wage bill

The Assembly voted Thursday to approve legislation that looks to gradually increase New Jersey’s minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next five years.The measure would immediately hike the current minimum wage, set at $8.38 per hour, to $10.10 per hour and then raise that rate annually by $1 to $1.25 per hour plus the rate of inflation until the $15 per hour threshold is reached.

In the Assembly, the bill is sponsored by Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus) and Assemblymen John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) and Gary Schaer (D-Passaic).

“This is an integral component in our efforts to stop the decline in the middle class and lift working families out of poverty,” said Prieto. “The constitutional minimum wage that we established a few years ago set a floor, not a ceiling. We must ensure that all workers are paid fairly for their labor. We now need to strive for better to reverse the poverty trend in this state.”

The measure has advanced out of committee and awaits a full vote in the Senate, where it is being sponsored by Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford).

“When businesses fail to pay a living wage, government is forced to fill the gap,” said Wisniewski. “Essentially, taxpayers are subsidizing these low-paying jobs and, in the process, suppressing wages for everyone else in the workforce. It’s not fair for workers or for the taxpayers who end up paying the bill. The American economy works best with a healthy middle class that has money in their pocket to spend.”

“Artificially inflating the value of a minimum wage job to $15 an hour, and thereby resetting the value of every single job in New Jersey, is not the answer,” said New Jersey Business & Industry Association president and CEO Michele Siekerka. “The focus must be on comprehensive tax reform and reducing the high cost of living in New Jersey so that people in entry-level jobs to afford to live here and advance in their careers.”

Business groups have railed against the proposal, claiming the hike would present a cost burden that would fall unfairly on the backs of employers, many of whom are still adjusting to the last minimum wage increase passed through voter referendum.

Voters agreed in 2013 to up the state’s then-minimum wage of $7.25 per hour by $1, to $8.25 per hour, and tie all future increases to the consumer price index.

“The shameful fact that full-time work isn’t enough to lift a New Jerseyan out of poverty should be enough to convince everyone in the state to raise the minimum wage,” said New Jersey Policy Perspective analyst Brandon McKoy. “But there is a clear economic case for doing so as well. Boosting the earnings of nearly 1 million working people in the state would help restore the strength of our working and middle classes, give a shot in the arm to local economies and Main Streets across the state and lay the foundation for a more prosperous New Jersey for all residents.”

While Gov. Chris Christie is expected to veto the legislation should it reach his desk, Sweeney and Prieto have indicated their willingness to place the question on the ballot as a voter referendum.