New Jersey has a brand new congresswoman, and she is moving fast on making change.
Rep. Analilia Mejia – who won her NJ-11 special election just two weeks ago – introduced her very first bill in Congress this week. It would raise the federal minimum wage to $25 an hour.
She’s calling it the Living Wage for All Act.
As of January 1, 2026, most New Jersey workers earn at least $15.92 an hour. That’s one of the higher state floors in the country. But Mejia’s bill isn’t targeting the state wage. It’s going after the federal one — which is still sitting at a jaw-dropping $7.25 an hour.
That number hasn’t moved since 2009.
Think about that for a second. Gas, rent, groceries — all of it has exploded over the past 17 years. The federal minimum wage? Frozen.
So what exactly does this bill do?
A few things that matter to everyday Jersey workers:
- It nearly doubles NJ’s current wage floor. $25/hour full-time works out to about $52,000 a year before taxes. At the current $15.92, you’re looking at around $33,000.
- It phases in gradually. Large employers would hit $25 by 2031. Smaller businesses would have until 2038. It’s not a flip of a switch.
- It ends tipped worker exceptions. Right now, NJ restaurant workers can legally be paid as little as $6.05 an hour, with tips expected to make up the rest. This bill wipes that out entirely. Every worker gets a full wage, period.
- It protects teens and workers with disabilities. No more “subminimum” loopholes. Everyone covered, no exceptions.
- It keeps growing. The bill includes a built-in mechanism that ties the minimum wage to broader wage growth — so it can’t just stagnate again for another two decades.
Why $25? That’s not a random number.
MIT’s Living Wage Calculator crunches what it actually costs a single adult to cover basics — housing, food, healthcare — across the country. In most of the U.S., including New Jersey, $25 is roughly the floor.
We already know NJ has a housing affordability issue, and while a minimum wage raise may not completely remove the issue – it can make a small dent for many. But with wages not keeping up with the rising costs, the challenge is real.
A recent USA TODAY survey found about 4 in 10 workers say their pay simply hasn’t kept up with the cost of living. That tracks with what a lot of Jersey residents are feeling right now.
Of course not everyone’s on board with this plan.
The New Jersey Business & Industry Association is pushing back. Their president, Michele Siekerka, argues that business owners know what they can afford – and that mandating a wage hike during an already tough economic stretch could backfire.
Her point isn’t nothing. According to NJBIA’s own 2026 survey, 77% of NJ business owners say affordability has declined over the past five years. In 2025, only 17% were able to give raises of 5% or more which is down from double that just two years earlier.
Small businesses in particular are caught in a tough spot.
Will this actually pass?
Let’s be real: probably not anytime soon. Republicans control the House, and this bill is going to face a steep uphill climb. Even a $17/hour proposal introduced last year – backed by over 170 Democrats including Bernie Sanders – went nowhere.
But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. It signals where the fight is headed. And for Mejia, it’s a clear opening statement about what kind of congresswoman she intends to be.
If you work in food service, retail, care work, or any job that’s historically been undervalued — this bill is written with you in mind.
Whether it becomes law is another story. But the conversation it’s starting? That one’s already happening.
