Save NJ jobs by saving our constitution
By Tom Bracken, Laurie Ehlbeck, John Holub and Stefanie Riehl
New Jersey’s voters face an important choice on Nov. 5. We can either make annual job losses a permanent part of our state’s constitution, or we can send the minimum-wage debate back to the state Legislature where it belongs.
For the sake of New Jersey’s economy, we hope our state’s voters will choose the second path and vote no on Public Question No. 2.
Public Question No. 2 may seem well-intentioned at first glance, but its placement of future annual increases in the minimum wage on a constitutional autopilot is the wrong policy at the wrong time.
On a constitutional level, this minimum-wage hike should not be placed in the state’s founding charter. Instead, it’s an issue that deserves good, old-fashioned back-and-forth and political compromise between the Legislature and Governor’s Office. In fact, both the governor and Legislature admit that they already support a minimum-wage hike.
The minimum-wage debate belongs in the Legislature, not the constitution. For this reason, both Republicans and Democrats — including those who otherwise support an increase in the minimum wage — have spoken out against this irresponsible and harmful proposal.
Posted: October 17th, 2013 | Author: admin | Filed under: 2013 Election, Economy, NJ Constitution | Tags: John Holub, Laurie Ehlbeck, Minimum Wage, New Jersey Business and Industry Association, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, New Jersey Retail Merchants Association, NFIB, Public Question #2, Stefanie Riehl, Tom Bracken | 1 Comment »