The New Jersey association also released a legislative alert informing its members that the state senate is set to meet on Monday, May 16, to discuss raising the state’s minimum wage to $15.
The state’s governor, Chris Christie (R), has threatened to veto the measure, but Democrats in the senate are ready to put it to ballot come November. They hope to get the initiative approved by voters as a constitutional amendment, a process they succeeded in during the last pay increase in the state.
“This is an issue of financial fairness and economic equality,” said Senator Sweeney, who authored the prior two increases. “New Jersey workers deserve to be paid a living wage that enables them to support themselves and their families. No one who works a full-time job should be living in poverty, especially at a time when so much of the nation’s wealth flows up to the richest one percent.”
The bill would increase the minimum wage to $10.10 on January 1, 2017. From January 1, 2018 until 2021, it would be increased annually by $1.25 per hour or $1 per hour, plus any increase in the Consumer Price Index. After 2021 the wage would be increased by any upward change in the CPI.
Employers in New Jersey and around the country should keep an eye on this case, because it could a set precedent for other states currently looking to increase their minimum wage to $15 an hour.
