S2065

TRENTON – A measure sponsored by Senator Stephen M. Sweeney that would increase the State minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.15 received approval today in the Senate.

“It’s time that the State stepped in to ease the burden on working families,”said Senator Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem. “A meaningful increase in the State’s minimum wage is the only real way to allow the State’s working poor to make ends meet without having to burn the candle at both ends. It is simply the right thing to do.”

TRENTON – The Senate Labor Committee today approved a measure sponsored by Senator Stephen M. Sweeney that would increase the State’s minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.15 over a two-year period.

“New Jersey’s reputation as one of the nation’s most progressive states is not done justice by the fact that we have the lowest minimum wage in the Northeast,” said Senator Sweeney, D-Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem, who also Chairs the Senate Labor panel. “New Jersey’s high cost of living warrants an increase in the minimum wage to allow the working poor to adequately provide for themselves and their families.”

TRENTON – A proposal to increase New Jersey’s hourly minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.15 over two years is expected to highlight Senate committee action on Monday, Jan. 24th, when the measure comes before the Senate Labor Committee.

“I’m confident that we have the support we need to approve this bill so we can start giving our workers a living wage,” said Senator Stephen M. Sweeney, the Senate Labor Committee Chairman and a prime sponsor of the measure, S-2065. “In a high-priced state like New Jersey, we can never forget that hourly workers still need to feed their families and pay soaring utility bills.”

TRENTON – Senator Stephen M. Sweeney, Chairman of the Senate Labor Committee, today said his panel is prepared to advance an increase in the minimum wage and will work closely on the issue with Acting Governor Richard J. Codey.

“We will be working closely with Governor Codey and his recommendations to provide New Jersey workers with a real-time living wage,” said Senator Sweeney, the Legislature’s leading proponent for increasing the State’s minimum wage, currently set at $5.15 an hour.