New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed any chance of a $15-an-hour minimum wage in the state Tuesday morning, explaining that his decision would ultimately protect many employees.
Christie made the announcement at a grocery store in Pennington Borough, Mercer County, and said that by increasing the hourly minimum wage to $15, employers would be forced to turn to automated kiosks – what Christie called "the wave of the future" – and fire other employees.
"While the bill’s proposed increase surely is responsive to the demands of Democratic legislators’ political patrons, it fails to consider the capacity of businesses, especially small businesses like Pennington Market, to absorb the substantially increased labor costs it will impose," he said during the news conference.
An OK on Assembly Bill 15 would have meant that the minimum wage in New Jersey – currently $8.38-an-hour – would increase of 80 percent in the next four years. It also would have made the state the third in the nation to make the $15-an-hour minimum wage state law, following California and New York.
Many progressive cities, like Seattle and Washington D.C., also have made strides to institute $15-an-hour minimum wages.
It comes as no surprise. New Jersey's Democrats passed the bill in June despite Christie having made his feelings about increasing the minimum wage public during his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. The state's Democrats plan to fight Christie's decision by leaving it up to voters on the 2017 ballot, NJ.com reports.
"We're going to try and let the voters decide," Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto told the newspaper. "I think the voters of this state are very compassionate and ... people need to be able to make a livable wage in such a high-cost state."