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An organization the Garden State called the New Jersey Policy Perspective is pushing for changes to the New Jersey minimum wage law. This is after the New Jersey minimum wage increased from $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour in 2005, and then up to $7.15 per hour in 2006. The reason for the push, say the organizers, is because the state of New Jersey has the fourth highest cost of living in all of the United States. But in terms of the state minimum wage, New Jersey has the ninth highest minimum wage in there, and it is tied with a bunch of other states to boot. By the year 2010 comes, according to the New Jersey Policy Perspective’s figures, New Jersey, if it’s minimum wage stays at the level it’s currently at, will have then the 17th highest minimum wage in the country.

The New Jersey Policy Perspective people are not calling for a new law per se, or a big increase in the New Jersey minimum wage. Instead, the New Jersey Policy Perspective is in a push to get the New Jersey minimum wage tied to the inflation rate. There are already 10 other states in the Union that attach their minimum wages to the inflation gauge (can you name them?). And the New Jersey law has a built in provision that could give the state the chance to do just that without having to pass a new law, says the New Jersey Policy Perspective.

This provision in the New Jersey minimum wage law is that the new law has created a so called state Minimum Wage Advisory Commission. It is the job of this New Jersey Minimum Wage Advisory Commission to research and consider the New Jersey minimum wage every year, to make sure it is still adequately meeting the needs of the lowest paid workers in the state and not infringing upon employers too much.

The New Jersey Minimum Wage Advisory Board then has to make a report based on its analysis. It is with this report, says the New Jersey Policy Perspective, that the New Jersey Minimum Wage Advisory Board could recommend every year to have the minimum wage raised by the inflation rate.

Of course, in a couple of years, the state of New Jersey’s employers could be seeing a raise in the New Jersey minimum wage anyway. If all stays as is at the moment—with New Jersey’s minimum wage staying at $7.15 per hour—and we assume that the federal minimum wage increase is now a done deal—then by the year 2009, the federal minimum wage will become $7.25 per hour, and most New Jersey employers will be required to pay that higher wage rate to their lowest paid workers.

But in the very least, the New Jersey Policy Perspective people are suggesting that the New Jersey minimum wage could and should be raised to half of the average wage in the state. That would raise the New Jersey minimum wage to about $8.50 per hour, a more than one dollar raise in the rate. At the moment, according to the New Jersey Policy Perspective people, the New Jersey minimum wage represents about 40 percent of the average wage in the state.

What are the chances of the New Jersey Policy Perspective carrying out their plans for the New Jersey minimum wage? Because this is not a legislative issue at the moment, and the New Jersey Policy Perspective is not calling for a legislative change really, then the complete onus falls on the New Jersey Minimum Wage Advisory Commission. Meanwhile, the New Jersey Policy Perspective can continue to follow their First Amendment rights and voice their opinion.

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