A key Senate Committee will vote Monday on a bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Watch video
TRENTON -- A state Senate committee will vote Monday whether to raise the minimum wage here to $15 an hour, setting in motion what's likely to be a lengthy and public fight over wages.
The proposed update would increase New Jersey's current minimum wage, $8.38, 70 percent to what advocates consider a more livable wage in this high-cost state. Opponents, particularly business groups, argue the hike would strangle businesses and force job cuts.
On Monday, the Senate Labor Committee will hold a hearing and vote on the $15-an-hour bill, which is backed by Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson).
While the two legislative leaders are feuding over legislation to rescue Atlantic City from financial ruin, this measure is the product of a deal they reached in February to raise wages. Prieto wanted a new law that would raise the federal wage all at once, while Sweeney proposed a public referendum to raise wages $1 at a time.
Workers demand respect in $15 wage fight
Now they're seeking to up wages first through law, and then by constitutional amendment in 2017 if, and likely when, Gov. Chris Christie blocks the legislation.
Under the bill (S15), the minimum wage would hit $10.10 on Jan. 1, 2017, and then by more than $1.25 an hour until 2021. After 2021, annual increases will be tied to changes in the consumer price index.
"New Jersey workers deserve to be paid a living wage that enables them to support themselves and their families," Sweeney said in a statement. "No one who works a full-time job should be living in poverty ... "
New Jersey Policy Perspective, a left-leaning Trenton think tank, has estimated 975,000 people would benefit from the wage hike. Of those, 91 percent are older than 20 years old, 61 percent are full-time workers and 28 percent have children.
New Jersey's minimum wage is already controlled by the state Constitution. Democrats went that route after Christie in 2013 vetoed a minimum wage bill that he said would hurt the economy. Christie instead offered to phase the $1 increase in over three years, with no automatic increases.
Democrats took their plan to voters, who agreed to amend the state constitution to increase the minimum wage by $1 to $8.25 an hour and then adjust annually based on the Consumer Price Index. Wages rose 13 cents in January 2015 and did not increase in 2016.
The annual take-home pay for a full-time worker earning the current minimum wage in New Jersey is about $17,430. The United Way of Northern New Jersey has estimated a single adult in New Jersey would need to earn $13.78 an hour to meet his or her basic needs, and $19.73 per hour for "better food and shelter, plus modest savings."
A spokesman for Christie has previously said the Democrats' proposal will "cripple New Jersey's rebounding economy ... kill our historic job growth and drive more major businesses out of the state."
Michele Siekerka, president of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association who will testify in opposition to the bill Monday, said the wage hike would drastically raise the cost of doing business.
Businesses will have no choice but to raise prices or reduce their payrolls, she said in a statement.
NJBIA and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce announced in February they're banding together to fight a trio of proposals, including the minimum wage, they say will damage New Jersey's business climate.
Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.