Skip to content
Politics
Link copied to clipboard

Lawmakers approve $15 minimum wage Christie vows to veto

TRENTON - New Jersey lawmakers on Thursday passed legislation that would nearly double the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next five years, despite Gov. Christie's veto threat.

TRENTON - New Jersey lawmakers on Thursday passed legislation that would nearly double the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next five years, despite Gov. Christie's veto threat.

Effective Jan. 1, 2017, the bill would raise the wage from the current $8.38 an hour to $10.10. The legislation would phase in greater increases through 2021, when the wage would reach $15 an hour.

The wage would be tied to inflation to adjust for the cost of living.

The legislation passed the state Senate by a vote of 21-18 on Thursday. The Assembly advanced the measure on a 42-32-1 vote in May, so it now heads to Christie's desk.

Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, have vowed to push for a constitutional amendment that would increase the wage if the Republican governor were to veto the legislation.

"Gov. Christie must sign this bill, but if he again fails New Jersey's working class, we again stand ready to take this issue to the voters," Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D., Hudson) said in a statement.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) added, "A $15 minimum wage would give hourly workers an improved pay scale so they can keep pace with the cost of living and support themselves and their families."

About 975,000 workers, 25 percent of the state's workforce, would get a raise by the time the wage increase was fully phased in, according to New Jersey Policy Perspective, a liberal think tank.

Republicans and business groups oppose the measure.

"We all think it ought to be at a reasonable level," Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R., Monmouth) said on the Senate floor Thursday. "The question is, how can New Jersey remain competitive?"

Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, said that if the bill is enacted, "small businesses will have to raise their prices, reduce the number of employees, or cut their hours."

"Rather than artificially inflating the economic value of minimum-wage positions, we should focus our efforts on policies for workforce development opportunities and incentives," she said in a statement.

Two states have similar laws on the books, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

California in April passed a law that will require all employers to pay a minimum of $15 an hour by 2023. New York state is also phasing in an increase to $15 for workers in New York City, where the wage floor is currently $9 an hour. That will take effect in 2018.

The legislative push in Trenton comes just three years after New Jersey voters authorized a constitutional amendment that increased the state's minimum wage by $1 to $8.25 and tied it to the cost of living.

Lawmakers are following a path similar to the one they took in 2013, when Christie conditionally vetoed a Democratic bill to boost the wage by $1.25 with automatic cost of living increases each year.

Lawmakers then sent a question to voters.

Democrats have said the 2013 increase was the best they could accomplish at the time and is no longer sufficient.

The nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services says it is uncertain what effect a $15 minimum wage would have on government revenues.

aseidman@phillynews.com

856-779-3846 @AndrewSeidman