Press Releases

CHERRY HILL, NJ – Today, as the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) releases its report on the impact of increasing the federal minimum wage, U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01) – a member of the House Education and Labor Committee and an electrician by trade – issued the below statement:

“I’ve worked for minimum wage and I was once a young single dad raising my son and having to balance work, family life and a checkbook. Back then it was hard. Today, for far too many Americans, it's nearly impossible.

“No American who works fulltime should be living in poverty. Today’s CBO report confirms that when people finally receive $15 an hour, they’ll spend more, become less reliant on government assistance and give our economy a needed boost – just like past federal minimum wage increases where families were lifted up and unemployment went down.

“I encourage anyone who is opposed to raising the minimum wage to try living off $7.25 an hour. You just can’t. Now is the time for our country to follow my home state’s lead and give working families a fair shot.”

“First & foremost for me is raising wages”

Norcross has a long history of fighting to raise wages. He fought day in and day out to ensure South Jersey workers had good-paying jobs as a business agent for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 351 and as president of the Southern New Jersey AFL-CIO. In the New Jersey state legislature from 2009-2013, he was part of the successful fight to raise the minimum wage.

Norcross introduced the Raise the Wage Act of 2019 with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Bernie Sanders and the Democratic leadership team in January and voted for its passage in the House Committee on Education and Labor in March.

Norcross was also an original sponsor of the Raise the Wage Act of 2017 and, in New Jersey, days after Governor Phil Murphy was elected, Norcross brought him together with Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin for their first public appearance together to call for a $15 an hour state minimum wage. By 2024, New Jersey’s floor will be $15 an hour.

Related Content

###

Contact: Ally Kehoe, Communications Director
ally.kehoe@mail.house.gov