In that same vein, New Jersey legislators are set to consider the impact that minimum wage hikes and other mandates can have on small businesses, but especially in the event of an economic downturn.  Small business owner and democratic Senator Vin Gopal joined forces with republican Deputy Whip Senator Kristin Corrado to sponsor S.3607, a bill that would alter the New Jersey $15 minimum wage law by allowing temporary suspension of scheduled annual increases if economic conditions worsened and there was a decline in certain state revenues. The proposal was scheduled for consideration by the Senate Labor Committee last week, but under pressure from the democratic Senate leadership, Gopal pulled the bill from the committee agenda but hopes to get it back under consideration again at a later date. Currently, the New Jersey state minimum wage is $10/hour, but scheduled to increase annually until it reaches $15/hour by 2024 (it goes to $11/hour on January 1, 2020). Democratic Congressman Donald Norcross, who has co-sponsored the federal Raise the Wage Act with Senator Bernie Sanders, sent a letter to the committee last week also urging them to reject the bill, claiming it would be as bad for businesses as it would be for workers.