Sweeney Praises Coughlin’s Minimum Wage Bill

TRENTON — Senate President Steve Sweeney issued the following statement today praising the legislation introduced by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin that would phase-in the increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour:

“Speaker Coughlin is offering a smart and progressive plan to increase New Jersey’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. The Speaker’s legislation gives us a working document that will move our efforts to enact a needed wage increase forward. We will work with legislators, advocates and others to finalize a plan that will be approved by both houses of the Legislature and signed into law. We want to get input from others, but we can now do that with a good proposal that achieves our shared goal of getting to $15 in a responsible way.

“Too many of our fellow citizens work full-time jobs but have to struggle to support themselves and their families. The dignity of hard work should be respected with fair pay. A minimum wage should be a living wage.

“The increase will also be good for the state’s economy. When we increased it in 2013 we added an estimated 93,000 jobs. That’s part of a track record of success that we can continue. I look forward to getting this done.”