The state Senate Labor Committee has approved a bill incrementally increasing New Jersey’s minimum wage to $15/hr. The bill increases minimum wage to $10.10 on Jan. 1, 2017. The minimum wage is increased on an annual basis by $1.25 an hour until it reaches $15/hr by 2021. After that, increases will be ties to changes in the consumer price index, as was the practice in the past.

It is expected that the bill will pass the legislature. A veto by the governor is likely and advocates of the increase plan on getting the measure on the ballot for 2017.