Norcross, NJ Leaders Celebrate Minimum Wage Milestone

NJ Minimum Wage Rose to $10 Today; Federal Minimum Wage Vote Expected in Congress in July

CHERRY HILL, NJ – Today, as New Jersey’s minimum wage rises from $8.85 an hour to $10 an hour, U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01), a member of the House Education and Labor Committee and an electrician by trade, Rob Asaro-Angelo, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, New Jersey Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald (D-Camden, Burlington), Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt (D-Camden, Burlington), Camden County Freeholder Jonathan Young and Ja’Quaya Townsend, a minimum-wage worker, marked the occasion by talking about living wages and calling on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage. (Click here to view or download live video from the press conference.)

“Days after Governor Murphy was elected, I brought him together with Senate President Sweeney and Speaker Coughlin for their first public appearance together to call for a $15 an hour minimum wage in New Jersey. We all committed to raise the wage in a sensible, predictable way that worked for workers and employers. We got it done, and today we took the next step on the path to fair wages for our state’s working families,” said Congressman Donald Norcross. “Now Congress needs to follow New Jersey’s lead, and I’m proud to announce that later this month the House plans to vote on my legislation to responsibly raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour – the Raise the Wage Act. Wages have been stagnant for far too long and Americans know it’s time to seize the momentum and raise the wage.”

Norcross introduced the Raise the Wage Act of 2019 with the Democratic leadership team in January and voted for its passage in the House Committee on Education and Labor in March. Norcross was also an original sponsor of the Raise the Wage Act of 2017 and, in the New Jersey state legislature, Norcross was part of the prior successful fight to raise the minimum wage in New Jersey.

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• Norcross voted in favor of the Raise the Wage Act in the House Committee on Education and Labor on March 6, 2019.
• Norcross applauded New Jersey’s $15 minimum wage agreement on January 17, 2019.
• Norcross and a bicameral group of colleagues introduced the Raise the Wage Act of 2019 on January 16, 2018.
• Norcross was unanimously elected to serve as Vice Chair and Liaison to Labor for Congressional Progressive Caucus in the 116th Congress, and said he looks forward to making certain that “every person has the dignity of a good-paying job” on November 29, 2018.
• In an op-ed in Roll Call reacting to the news that Amazon is raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour, Norcross wrote “Amazon is taking a step in the right direction, and it is well past time for Congress to follow suit” on October 12, 2018.
• Norcross and three of his colleagues issued the findings of their “Future of Work, Wages and Labor” initiative on September 5, 2018.
• Norcross applauded Governor Murphy’s prioritization of raising wages in an op-ed in The Star Ledger on July 22, 2018.
• Norcross, NJ Governor-Elect Phil Murphy, NJ Senate President Steve Sweeney and NJ Assembly Speaker-Designee Craig Coughlin stood with labor leaders and workers to call on all levels of government to raise wages for hardworking American families on November 20, 2017.
• Norcross reacted to the announcement that Target will raise minimum wage on September 25, 2017.
• Norcross published an op-ed in The Record titled “When they go low, we go higher wages” on September 9, 2017.
• Norcross hosted colleagues in South Jersey for a day-long forum on ‘The Future of Work, Wages and Labor’ on August 4, 2017.
• Norcross expressed strong support for the new Democratic agenda ‘A Better Deal: Better Jobs, Better Wages, Better Future’ on July 24, 2017.
• Eight years after the last federal minimum wage increase, Norcross called on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage at a news conference with a bicameral group of lawmakers and low-wage workers on July 25, 2017.
• Norcross and all of House Education and the Workforce Committee Democrats urged Chairwoman Virginia Foxx to hold a full Committee hearing on the Raise the Wage Act in a letter on July 24, 2017.
• Norcross wrote “first and foremost for me is raising wages” in an op-ed Sunday, July 23, 2017.
• Norcross and colleagues introduced the Raise the Wage Act on May 25, 2017.
• Norcross was appointed to serve on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and he vowed to represent New Jersey labor and working families on January 5, 2017.

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