Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday shot down an attempt to raise the state’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour next year on its way to $15, a veto that immediately drew praise from business interests and attacks from the governor’s political opponents.
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Christie held a press conference inside a Pennington grocery store this morning to announce he would be vetoing bill A-15, which Prieto and Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-19) sponsored in the Assembly and state Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3) and Senator Ray Lesniak (D-20) introduced in the Senate back in February.
The measure, put forth by Democrats in the Legislature, called for an increase in New Jersey’s minimum wage, now set at $8.38 per hour to $10.10 per hour, and would have included subsequent hikes of $1 to $1.25 per hour plus the rate of inflation until the $15 per hour cap was met.
“Approval of Assembly Bill 15 would not only bring New Jersey’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2021, but under the ill-advised constitutional amendment put into place three years ago it would also continue to rise annually there forward based upon the CPI, which is why I believe we never should have put the CPI in in the first place”, Christie said.
The measure would have raised the minimum wage from $8.38 to $10.10 on January 1, 2017, and then by more than $1.25 an hour annually until 2021. “The Governor’s actions have only served to temporarily thwart a unified effort to raise New Jersey families and provide a much needed boost to our economy”.
Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, lead sponsor of the bill, said in a statement the wage increase is a key component to Democrats’ strategy to combat poverty. He cut hours in response to the 2013 minimum wage hike, he said, and would have to again, if the wage were raised.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Three workers declined interviews. Minimum wage jobs should go to entry-level workers who are learning a skill and making some cash on their way to getting a higher education, she said.
New Jersey would have become the third state to raise the hourly wage to $15, after California and NY. The minimum wage is now $8.38 an hour.
While California’s higher rate will be in effect statewide by 2022, New York created a two-speed system, with different timetables for New York City and nearby counties, versus the “upstate” regions where incomes are lower and labor markets less robust. Other states, including New Jersey, have already linked minimum-wage increases to inflation.
The governor predicted a public-relations battle over that amendment, and encouraged public involvement.
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“We’re going to try and let the voters decide”, he said. “Today’s just another round”.
