Public Question 2 : The battle over a buck
TRENTON — The governor’s race is looking lopsided and the legislative map has rendered most Senate and Assembly contests uncompetitive, so where are the fireworks in New Jersey’s November election?
Look no further than the $2 million-plus battle over a plan to raise the minimum wage in the Garden State.
Democrats put Public Question 2 on the ballot to achieve through a referendum what they were blocked from doing in the Statehouse by Gov. Chris Christie — increasing the minimum wage by $1 an hour, starting in January, then requiring annual increases to keep pace with inflation.
The proposal has resulted in an avalanche of special-interest spending, amplifying a long-running debate: Does a mandated wage hike help low-wage employees and spur economic activity or does it hurt business owners, taxpayers and even those workers it purports to benefit?
“More than 400,000 New Jerseyans will be affected by a minimum wage increase. These are the people that pump our gas and bag our groceries and take care of our elderly parents,” said Paul Penna, the Raise the Wage campaign manager for the union-backed Working Families United for New Jersey. “Having not only a minimum wage increase, the first substantial one in New Jersey since 2007, it also provides stability so that when the cost of goods and services go up, the cost of the base wage in New Jersey will keep pace.” (Symons/Asbury Park Press)
https://www.app.com/article/20131031/NJNEWS1002/310310165/New-Jersey-ballot-question
I favor raising the wage, but i’am not sure about keeping pace with inflation.
This has to be voted down because of the automatic annual increases regardless of whether or not you want the current minimum wage raised.
“regardless of whether or not you want the current minimum wage raised.”
Who could possibly be that selfish and clueless to think that $7.25 is a fair hourly wage?
Minimum wage laws have been used as tools by Sourh Africa as well as unions to make it more difficult for entry level workers to gain jobs and hence experience. The losers will be minority teenagers. The winners will be entrenched jobholders.
How can anyone think that raising the cost of labor will not result in fewer people being hired? The do-gooders have been deceived by the special interests yet again.
Please tell me you are smart enough to realize that this is NOT over raising the minumum wage to $7.25/hr and that you are just spinning Question 2 to advance your agenda of getting automatic annual minimum wage increases set in granite…
We can do that without a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT and still raise the minimum wage to $7.25/hr.