New Developments On 2 Big NJ Bills: Marijuana And Minimum Wage

Two big New Jersey bills could be delayed even longer as lawmakers haven't yet found common ground on marijuana legalization and raising the minimum wage to $15.

Gov. Phil Murphy and legislative leaders put off a meeting scheduled last Thursday that was supposed to address legalizing marijuana and the $15 minimum wage plan, sources told Patch. The meeting was supposed to come just days before Murphy's State-of-the-State address.

Murphy's office said it had a scheduling conflict, and it was "mutually agreed upon" to reschedule. Officials did say that delaying the meeting "does not delay anything of substance – staff conversations are happening on an ongoing basis."

A meeting could be held later this month, but legislative leaders did not hold out hope for progress on marijuana legalization, despite the fact that Assembly and Senate committees advanced the bill last month.

Read more: NJ Lawmakers Make Big Decision On Marijuana Legalization

The sources did offer hope for raising the minimum wage, saying staff discussions have continued and they've made progress on the issue since it is the "more immediate priority" than marijuana.

Murphy, Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin were supposed to be at the Thursday meeting, according to state officials. Lawmakers are reportedly awaiting Murphy's response to the Legislature’s revisions to Coughlin’s proposed bill that would increase the minimum wage from $8.85 to $15 an hour by 2024 for most workers.

The $15 minimum wage would go into effect in 2029 for farm workers, teens and seasonal employees and businesses with less than 10 employees. Murphy told Patch he opposes carve-outs in the minimum wage.

During a press conference last week, Murphy said he's "frustated" that lawmakers haven't passed the minimum wage bill. But he basically diminished the significance of the meeting postponement.

"Just because we're not in the room together – we've had a very signicant amount of communication," Murphy said.

Murphy addressed the meeting issue on the below video at the 21:20 mark:

YouTube photo/video