Cory Booker talks minimum wage and resiliency on the Jersey Shore

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) has been in office for less than a year and already he’s running for re-election.  This week, Booker filed his nominating petitions to run in New Jersey’s June primary.

But when he stopped by our studios to talk with NewsWorks Tonight host Dave Heller, Booker was focused on his economic agenda, especially extending unemployment benefits and hiking the minimum wage. 

The former Newark mayor famous for his Twitter following and his rapid rise in politics says those two changes are vital to speeding up the economic recovery.

Given that New Jersey and many other states have boosted their minimum wages, is action in Congress unnecessary?  Booker said he was happy to see Garden State voters approve a  $8.25 minimum wage, but he says Washington must hike the federal minimum.

 “I just believe everyone should be doing it, but right now it’s not, it’s sporadic amongst the states and not high enough,” said Booker.  He is on board with President Obama’s proposal for a $10.10 minimum wage.

When asked about the unfinished business of recovering from Superstorm Sandy, Booker focused on resiliency.

“When you look at a city like Atlantic City, and you see that the 50-year sea rise is going to endanger an entire city, that’s a time when you have to start saying ‘OK, there’s two things we’ve got to do.  One, recognize that warming is a problem and man, humankind rather, is pushing that problem further and we need as a globe to do more to deal with climate change.  And we need to start buffering those cities in responsible ways, so that some of our key, core industries don’t get hit,'” Booker said.

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