By Michael Symons
New Jersey 101.5, December 11, 2018. Also WPG 104.1, WOBM 92.7

A crucial two days are ahead in the debate over raising New Jersey minimum wage to $15 an hour... Staffers for Gov. Phil Murphy and the Legislature’s top two Democrats are set to meet Wednesday. Then on Thursday, Murphy, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin plan to hold their first meeting in over two months.

Coughlin, D-Middlesex, last week introduced legislation that was quickly endorsed by Sweeney that would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2024, though for...

Insider NJ, December 11, 2018

Office of the Governor Press Release
PARSIPPANY – As part of his ongoing commitment to building  a stronger and fairer New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy today toured Earth Friendly Products in Parsippany and expressed his support for a $15 minimum wage for all working New Jerseyans.

“A $15 minimum wage will not only lift up the current generation of New Jersey working families, but ensure fairness and opportunity for future generations,” said Governor Phil Murphy. “For the more than one million New Jersey workers who earn less than $15 an hour...

By Ron Ruggless
Nation's Restaurant News, Nov 20, 2018

More than 20 states and a number of municipalities will be increasing the minimum wage just before or on New Year’s Day 2019, including recent statewide increases approved by voters in Arkansas and Missouri. Voters in both states turned out Nov. 6 in record numbers to raise the minimum wage, and other states have already approved graduated increases scheduled to go into effect with the turn of the calendar year. ...

Some commerce groups, such as Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, supported raising the minimum wages in November’s Arkansas and Missouri initiatives.

By Caroline Kelly
CNN, November 9, 2018

...Voters in both Arkansas and Missouri, two states that went strongly for President Donald Trump in 2016, passed ballot initiatives to increase the state minimum wage during Tuesday's midterm elections.

Initiatives in Florida, Nevada and North Dakota are already in the works for the presidential ballot in 2020. ...Minimum wage ballot initiatives have also won handily in red and purple states, such as South Dakota, Nebraska and Arizona, in the past two election cycles.

Feet on the ground

More than 700 Missouri businesses supported the measure ...

By Max Brantley, Arkansas Blog
Arkansas Times, Nov 9, 2018

Article starts with Business for a Fair Minimum Wage Graphic Quoting Capi Peck, Trio's Restaurant

The Washington Post reports today on passage of a minimum wage increase in Arkansas. The article says the state will have the "highest effective minimum wage" soon and thus perhaps provide a test for the economic impact of a higher guaranteed wage. The key word is "effective." The current minimum is $8.50 an hour and it will rise in stages to $11 by 2021.

..."By 2021, a minimum wage worker in Arkansas...

By Raquel Harrington
KY3 TV News (NBC, Springfield, MO), Nov 8, 2018

Minimum wage workers in Missouri AND Arkansas, should be expecting larger paychecks starting next year.

I think it's pretty clear that it's pretty hard to live off minimum wage," said B2 Cafe employee Haley Ankely. After Tuesdays elections, it just may get a little easier, with the minimum wage going up to $8.65 an hour at the first of the year.

However, one local business owner says he already has to pay more than the state's lowest wage.

"There's been more demand, for employees...

Times Record (Fort Smith, AR), Nov 8, 2018

Over 68 percent of Sebastian County voters approved state Issue 5 on Tuesday that calls for a gradual minimum wage hike to $11 an hour by 2021. ...

“Arkansas business owners know the minimum wage has been too low for too long and needs a boost,” Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, said in a news release. “They understand the connection between a strong wage floor and strong consumer demand, which is why they support Issue 5. Workers are also customers, and increased pay means increased consumer buying power, as well as lower employee turnover and improved productivity.”

By Heather Long
Washington Post, November 8, 2018

Photo Caption: Capi Peck, second from right, huddles with some of her kitchen crew right before the busy lunch period begins at Trio's Restaurant in Little Rock. Peck has owned Trio's for 32 years and was an outspoken supporter of the campaign to raise Arkansas' minimum wage to $11 an hour by 2021.

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas is likely to have the highest effective minimum wage in the country soon, setting up a grand experiment in whether a high minimum wage in a poor state can raise workers out...

By Ray Scherer
News-Press Now, Nov 8, 2018

Social service agencies and employers are among those already displaying a keen interest in how Missouri’s amended minimum wage law is implemented next year. ...

A Downtown business owner said placing more money in people’s pockets for spending in the economy can only reap the best of results.

“I think it’s going to be great in the long term for our community and our state,” said Dana Massin, owner of Manic Snail: Paper & Gifts, 618 Francis St.

Massin said she intends to hire staff in the...

By Suzanne Potter
Missouri News Service, Nov 8, 2018

(Springfield) -- Supporters of a higher minimum wage, clean elections and medical marijuana are looking at the next steps to implement the ballot initiatives, while warning politicians not to try to undermine them.

The minimum wage will now rise from $7.85 to $8.60 an hour starting Jan. 1, and will go up 85 cents a year until 2023, when it hits $12 an hour, with cost-of-living increases kicking in annually after that.

Lewis Prince, state coordinator for Missouri Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, says Proposition B...