CCSNJ Legislative Update - February 8, 2013:

Senate Passes Constitutional Amendment to Raise Minimum Wage

Yesterday, the State Senate passed SCR-1 (Sweeney/Turner), which would amend the State Constitution to increase the minimum wage to $8.25 per hour with annual increases tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), by a vote of 22 to 15. All Senate Republicans voted against the amendment and all Democrats voted in favor of the bill except Senator Jeff Van Drew (District 1) who has consistently voted against increasing minimum wage this year.

The Chamber joined with a coalition of business organizations on a desk letter addressed to all Senators opposing utilizing the State Constitution to increase the minimum wage and tie future increases to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The Coalition pointed out in the desk letter that the issue of increasing the minimum through the State Constitution essentially creates a labor contract in the Constitution. Doing so will make it nearly impossible for the state and its businesses to respond flexibly to economic considerations.

The CCSNJ and the Coalition do not believe that opening up the State Constitution to complex issues such as wage and hour issues is prudent. In fact, the issue of increasing the minimum wage has already gone through the legislative process, and has been conditionally vetoed by the Governor. (Under Governor Christie’s conditional veto, the minimum wage would be increased by $1.00 per hour, phased in over three years with the first increase effective next month.) The letter urged members of the Senate to support the Governor’s changes to A-2162 (Oliver/Greenwald/Green/Johnson/Prieto/Wisniewski) /S-3 (Sweeney/Vitale/Codey). Please click here to see the coalition desk letter to the Senate.

SCR-1 will now be considered by the full Assembly. If passed by a simple majority, the question will be put on this November’s ballot for voters to decide.

We urge our members to contact your Assembly representatives (below is a list of South Jersey Assemblypersons) and urge them to not support the constitutional amendment and instead support the Governor’s changes to A-2162/S-3 .

If you have any questions please contact Jonathan Chowansky, Manager, Government Relations at jchowansky@chambersnj.com or (856) 424-7776 ext. 127.

The opinions and statements expressed in this Legislative Update are not necessarily the views of this Legislative Update’s sponsor.

South Jersey Assembly Representatives

District 1

Assemblyman Nelson Albano asmalbano@njleg.org

Assemblyman Matthew Milam asmmilam@njleg.org

District 2

Assemblyman John Amodeo-asmamodeo@njleg.org

Assemblyman Chris A. Brown asmchrisabrown@njleg.org

District 3

Assemblyman John Burzichelli asmburzichelli@njleg.org

Assemblywoman Celeste Riley aswriley@njleg.org

District 4

Assemblyman Paul Moriarty asmmoriarty@njleg.org

Assemblywoman Gabriela Mosquera aswmosquera@njleg.com

District 5

Assemblyman Angel Fuentes asmfuentes@njleg.org

Assemblyman Gilbert Wilson asmwilson@njleg.org

District 6

Assemblyman Louis Greenwald asmgreenwald@njleg.org

Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt aswlampitt@njleg.org

District 7

Assemblyman Herb Conaway, Jr. asmconaway@njleg.org

Assemblyman Troy Singleton asmsingleton@njleg.org

District 8

Assemblyman Chris J. Brown asmchristopherjbrown@njleg.org

Assemblyman Scott Rudder asmrudder@njleg.org

CCSNJ Legislative Update- January 29, 2013:

GOVERNOR CONDITIONALLY VETOES MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE LEGISLATION

Chamber applauds Governor on “balanced approach” to the issue

Yesterday, Governor Christie conditionally vetoed legislation that would have increased the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $8.50 per hour, with future annual increases tied to the Consumer Price Index.

The Governor’s conditional veto phases in a $1.00 increase in the minimum wage, with a $.25 increase effective March 1, 2013; a $.50 increase effective March 1, 2014; and a $.25 increase March 1, 2015. His changes also include an increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit, from 20 percent to 25 percent.

The Chamber has been vocally opposed to increasing the minimum wage over many years. We believe that the Governor’s action yesterday proved that he did listen to the business community’s concerns on this issue. We will remain opposed to amending the State Constitution to increase the minimum wage and to tie future increases to the Consumer Price Index.

Please see Chamber President Debra DiLorenzo’s statement below.

Statement of Debra P. DiLorenzo

President & CEO, Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey

On Governor Christie’s Conditional Veto of the

Minimum Wage Increase

January 29, 2013

“Yesterday, the Governor conditionally vetoed legislation that would have dramatically impacted our members, especially small businesses. The changes the Governor made are proof that he listened to the concerns of the business community, while balancing the needs of lower income workers. A phased-in increase in the minimum wage will allow businesses to better plan and budget for salaries, benefits and other wage-related costs. We will continue to oppose legislative efforts amending the State Constitution to include a labor contract which squarely belongs between employers and employees.

“We applaud the Governor for taking a balanced approach to this very complex and far-reaching issue, and urge the Legislature to adopt his changes.”

If you have any questions please contact Jonathan Chowansky, Manager of Government Relations at 856-424-7776 ext. 127 or via email at jchowansky@chambersnj.com.

*The opinions and statements expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily the views of this newsletter’s sponsor.

CCSNJ Legislative Update - January 4, 2013:

Expansion of Project Labor Agreements Voted Out of Senate Committee

Yesterday, the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee passed S-2425 (Sweeney), which revises the definition of “public works projects” to permit project labor agreements to be used for more projects, including highways, bridges, pumping stations and water and sewage treatment plants. The bill was approved by a vote of 8-4-1, with all Democrats voting in favor of the bill and all Republicans voting against the bill, except for Senator Joseph Pennacchio (Essex and Morris counties), who abstained.

The Chamber submitted testimony opposing this legislation as it limits competition and increases the cost of projects. Numerous studies have shown that project labor agreements increase costs by as much as 30%, and more importantly effectively eliminates competition from qualified “open shop” contractors. The effect of this legislation increasing the cost of any public funded construction project means higher taxes. We believe that taxpayer dollars should be expended on projects in such a way to ensure that a project is completed by the most skilled workers, and by an organization that is well-run, able to complete a job on time and on budget, regardless of whether its workers are union or non-union. Please click here to see the Chamber’s testimony.

If you have any questions please contact Jonathan Chowansky, Manager of Government Relations at 856-424-7776 ext. 127 or via email at jchowansky@chambersnj.com.

*The opinions and statements expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily the views of this newsletter’s sponsor.