N.J. Assembly speaker proposes $15 minimum wage
TRENTON - New Jersey Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto is proposing to raise the state minimum wage to $15 an hour, following cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles that have made similar increases.
TRENTON - New Jersey Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto is proposing to raise the state minimum wage to $15 an hour, following cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles that have made similar increases.
The move in New Jersey comes after voters in 2013 approved a ballot initiative that raised the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.25 an hour, tied to increases in the cost of living.
The current minimum wage is $8.38 an hour.
"We set a floor, not a ceiling," Prieto (D., Hudson) said at a Statehouse news conference Thursday, joined by lawmakers and advocates such as New Jersey Working Families.
Prieto said the wage increase would be tied to inflation. Lawmakers said they would introduce a bill Friday.
"You just can't make ends meet under the current minimum wage," added Assemblyman John S. Wisniewski (D., Middlesex).
Gov. Christie, a Republican presidential candidate, would almost certainly veto the legislation.
"Between nearly doubling the minimum wage and their effort to enshrine a $3 billion tax increase in the constitution, there is absolutely no end to what Democrats in the Legislature will do to kill jobs, drive major businesses out of New Jersey, and destroy an economy that is on the rebound," Brian Murray, a spokesman for the governor, wrote in an email, referring to a proposed constitutional amendment to require greater state contributions to the pension system.
The Los Angeles City Council last year voted to phase in an increase to $15 an hour, up from $9 an hour, by 2020. Fourteen cities and states have passed ordinances or legislation increasing the minimum wage to $15, according to the National Employment Law Project. New York state approved a wage increase for fast-food workers and state employees, to be phased in over several years.
Nearly 36 percent of New Jersey workers make less than $15 an hour, according to the National Employment Law Project, which supports efforts to increase the minimum wage.
Prieto said he had not yet discussed the idea with Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester).
Sweeney's office said in a statement: "As the leader of the two previous successful efforts to increase the state's minimum wage, including the constitutional amendment to overcome the governor's veto, Senate President Sweeney supports efforts to further raise the minimum wage, and he looks forward to reviewing the details of the legislation proposed by Speaker Prieto" and Sen. Raymond J. Lesniak (D., Union).
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