New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is currently deciding whether or not to sign a $15 minimum wage into law, and the Employment Policies Institute today released a new commercial that should help him make his decision.
Earlier this year, EPI released an analysis by Drs. David Macpherson of Trinity University and William Even of Miami University that examined the impact of a $15 starter wage in New Jersey. It found that the policy would cost the state 33,500 jobs, 92 percent of which would come from employees without a college degree. The analysis also found that a $15 starter wage would have little effect on poverty rates in New Jersey poverty rate because two-thirds of the state’s working age poor are unemployed.
The commercial concludes by stating that a minimum wage hike in New Jersey “won’t change the lives of people who need a job, not a raise.” Governor Christie should reject a hike in the starting wage hike in the interest of increasing New Jersey’s entry-level employment opportunities.