By Brigid Callahan Harrison for The Record.
“I’m showing a willingness to listen but also honestly saying I’m not inclined to do so.”
— Governor Christie, on his position on increasing New Jersey’s minimum wage, Jan. 12, 2012.
LAST WEEK, the Assembly voted to increase the state’s minimum wage to $8.50 an hour, an increase of $1.25 above the federally required $7.25 minimum wage.
The bill, A-2162, which was sponsored by Speaker Sheila Oliver, D-Essex, also pegs the state minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index, bringing automatic adjustments in years to come. The state Senate needs to consider the measure before it lands on the governor’s desk.
Christie has not ruled out signing the measure, though his comments above perhaps tip his hand. Many Republicans and business-oriented interest groups throughout the state have argued that increasing the minimum wage hurts job growth.
But such views are shortsighted.
According to a report prepared by the Economic Policy Institute and released by New Jersey Policy Perspective:
* Wages would increase by $489 million in the first year
* Overall economic activity would increase by $278 million in the first year
* The equivalent of 2,420 new full-time jobs would be created
In addition, the report notes that over 500,000 New Jerseyans would feel the direct impact of the wage increase, including the more than 300,000 who now would see their wages increase to the new proposed minimum and the nearly quarter-million workers who earn just over $8.50 and who may see increases as pay scales shift upward.
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