Norcross, NJ Leaders Celebrate Minimum Wage Milestone
Insider NJ
July 1, 2019
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.
“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.