A Democratic congressional candidate in New Jersey is throwing her support behind legislation that a new study says would eliminate tens of thousands of jobs in her home state and millions more across the country, according to an account published by Breitbart News.
Rebecca Bennett, who is running for the U.S. House in New Jersey’s 7th District, said she would back a $25-per-hour federal minimum wage. That proposal is at the center of the Living Wage For All Act, a bill that New Jersey Democratic Rep. Analilia Mejia helped lead in the House and that Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced in the Senate in June.
The legislation would raise the federal minimum wage from its current $7.25 per hour to $12.00 in the first year, then continue climbing toward $25 over what supporters describe as “several” years. It would also phase out subminimum wages for tipped workers.
A Study Projects Heavy Job Losses
According to the Employment Policies Institute study cited in the Breitbart report, the $25 wage proposal would slash roughly 5 million jobs over the next five years. Young and inexperienced workers would absorb more than half of those losses, the study found, with workers under 25 hit hardest. Restaurant employees would also face what the report describes as massive job losses.
The projected damage would not be spread evenly. Texas would be the hardest-hit state by the estimate, losing about 831,289 jobs. Pennsylvania would lose roughly 295,473, followed by Georgia at 253,708 and North Carolina at 250,000. In Bennett’s own state, the study estimates New Jersey would shed 58,925 jobs.
More than a dozen states already require a minimum wage above the federal floor, many of them at $15 per hour or higher. Bennett has said she wants to see the federal rate rise to $25.
Democrats Frame the Bill as a Response to Stagnant Wages
Supporters of the measure argue that the federal minimum wage has been frozen since 2009 even as the cost of housing, groceries and everyday essentials has climbed. In a statement included in the Breitbart report, the bill’s backers said working families are paying more for just about everything while the wage floor stays stuck nearly two decades in the past.
“If you work full time, you should be able to afford to live with dignity,” the statement said, adding that the economy should reflect today’s reality rather than one “stuck nearly two decades in the past.”
The statement also pointed to New Jersey’s own experience, noting that the state raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour, and credited Murphy along with Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Andy Kim and Ron Wyden for their work on the Senate companion. “It’s time to build an economy that works for all, not just billionaires and corporations,” it said.
Republicans Seize on the Jobs Estimate
The National Republican Congressional Committee quickly turned the study’s findings into an attack on Bennett. Spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole framed the race as a referendum on the wage proposal and on Bennett’s broader record.
“Radical Democrat Rebecca Bennett’s pitch to New Jerseyans is quite the deal: A vote for Bennett is a vote to kill nearly 60,000 jobs and against policies that put more money back in workers’ pockets,” O’Toole said in a statement. “Bennett can claim she stands with New Jersey families all she wants; voters can do the math on her partisan, economy-crushing agenda.”
The NRCC also faulted Bennett for opposing the sweeping tax and spending package known as the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” pointing to its provisions eliminating federal tax on tips and overtime pay and delivering tax relief for seniors. According to the report, Bennett called the legislation “awful” and said it provided tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, a characterization Republicans reject as ignoring the tax cuts extended to the middle class.
The Broader Fight Over the Federal Wage Floor
The dispute over the Living Wage For All Act fits into a long-running national argument about how high the federal minimum wage should go and what happens to employment when it rises. The $7.25 federal rate has stood unchanged since 2009, making it one of the longest stretches without an increase since the wage was first established.
Democrats in Congress have pushed for years to raise it, while many states have moved ahead on their own. The Living Wage For All Act represents one of the more ambitious proposals on the table, both in its target rate and in its treatment of tipped workers, whose lower subminimum wage would be eliminated gradually under the bill.
That ambition is also what makes the bill a target. The Employment Policies Institute study gives critics a concrete number to attach to the proposal, and Republicans are already using it to argue that a $25 wage would cost far more jobs than it creates, particularly among the young and inexperienced workers whom the study identifies as most vulnerable.
For Bennett, the issue now sits at the center of her bid in New Jersey’s 7th District, where she has made clear she would cast a vote in favor of the bill if elected. Whether the study’s projected 58,925 job losses in New Jersey become a decisive argument with voters — or whether the bill’s promise of a $25 wage outweighs the warnings — is likely to play out through the rest of the campaign.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/09/21/nj-democrat-candidate-rebecca-bennett-backs-bill-study-says-would-crush-5-million-jobs-nationwide-60k-nj/