POLL: What Do You Think of Christie's Minimum Wage Hike Plan?
Patch wants to know what you think.
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After vetoing a Democratic Party-backed minimum wage bill Monday, Gov. Christie announced his own plan to increase the state’s minimum wage by $1 over three years while restoring a 5 percent cut he made in 2011 to the state's Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor.
Mendham Township's most controversial resident's plan is an alternative to the Democratic minimum-wage measure that would have raised the state’s minimum wage by $1.25 to $8.50 per hour in one fell swoop. The blue approach also would have linked automatic yearly increases to the Consumer Price Index, an idea the governor rejected.
Senate President Steve Sweeney has said that in the event of a Christie veto, Democrats would try to pass a constitutional amendment.
The governor's plan amounts to a smaller hourly boost for low-income workers than Democrats wanted, and spreads that smaller increase over three years.
State Republican leaders call the governor's approach a responsible way to give relief to working families that does not jeopardize New Jersey’s economic progress.
General Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, a Democrat who sponsored the vetoed bill held a different view, calling Christie’s action “unacceptable” and “callous.”
Meanwhile, Laurie Ehlbeck, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, expressed regret over Christie's move.
“This was a difficult decision for the governor and we appreciate his effort to soften the blow,” said Ehlbeck. “But the bottom line is that it’s still a blow to small businesses and that’s going to harm the economy.”
Patch wants to know what you think. Take the poll and please expand on your thoughts in the comments.
About Me
9:24 am on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
His recent display of compassion was short lived, and regardless of it's sincerity, it certainly gave a momentary boost to his popularity. Unfortunately, he is back to his old ways, and like any successful politician, at the end of the day, he answers only to the wealthy.
Skip
10:53 am on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
I'm a small business owner. IMO it really doesn't matter what they make the minimum wage. $7.25, $8.50..etc. You can't survive in NJ on those wages anyway. My last new hire took one look at what was taken out of his paycheck in taxes and I could tell by the look on his face he was going to leave. I can't find anyone to work for anything less then $10/hr. and even then new hires eventually just stop showing up. No call, no two weeks notice, nothing. Its ridiculously easy warehouse work too. I use to put a "Help Wanted" sign in front of my building which attracted anywhere from 5-10 people a day looking for jobs. This was 4-5 years ago and before when the economy was still decent. Rarely did I need to leave the sign out there for more then 2-3 days before finding a qualified person. I just had my sign out in December for roughly 3 weeks. Only 1 person stopped in. I hired him, he worked for a few weeks and just stopped showing up. I spent quite a bit of time filling out all the required local and federal tax forms for this new hire. Now I'm waiting for the unemployment form to show up.
About Me
11:44 am on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Generally speaking, I doubt that he is eligible for unemployment benefits since it was he who quit. But it might depend on the particular circumstances and if he had worked at all in previous months.
MY OPINION MATTERS
11:37 am on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
As I agree with you Skip... small businesses struggle to survive in NJ because we are having to pay to jump through hoops to first become a business and then attempt to survive. This state does not want small businesses to flourish they want the giant corporations to move here to pay the INSANE fees and taxes! The taxes we pay here in NJ are out of control and that money doesnt seem to find its way to the paychecks of those its supposed to support.... (for example the police, fire, teachers... their pays are crap for what they do) If your not making $200,000 a year as a family here, you struggle to make ends meet. You can pay your mortgage but cant pay the property taxes... Christie is just another politician playing the BS games from his cozy mansion while the rest of us are praying we dont lose our jobs and hope we can scrape together another mortgage/rent payment.
Skip
12:11 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
About me....I think you are right, however, I know from experience that it doesn't stop them from applying. All they have to say is that they were fired. Then I get the "Notice to Employer of Monetary Determination and request for Separation information" form which I have to fill out where I note IN BOLD that they stopped showing up for work. Then I get a phone call from the unemployment office verifying that I did in fact fire the employee which I confirm...again....I did not. Then a week or so later I get another form verifying the time they did work which I have to fax back. Then eventually I get another form stating my "experience rating" is going up. Which leads me to assume they are in fact collecting unemployment. But I digress....IMHO there really isn't a need for a minimum wage because no one will work for any amount of $ these politicians are speaking of. Its just a game they play. Just another waste of time and taxpayer money.
Pat Trombly
10:53 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Please google "price floor," read what you find, and ask yourselves why you want to freeze the least skilled people out of the workforce.