Governor Phil Murphy this afternoon urged the New Jersey Legislature to start 2019 by finishing what they couldn’t finish in 2018: putting the minimum wage on a path to $15 an hour, and legalizing adult-use marijuana.

And he gave a friendly jab to his tormentors in the process.

“We must remember that when we talk about policy we are talking about people, not politics,” said Murphy, whose core administration members have been sitting through select investitive committee hearings into charges of inaction in a high-profile alleged sexual assault case.

“Our minimum wage workers got a 25-cent per hour increase on January 1 — a scant $10 more on a 40-hour work week. That’s completely inadequate,” said the governor. “Working together with the Senate President and Speaker, we have made great progress over the past several days on final legislation to raise our minimum wage. I appreciate the progress we have made and I know, working together, we will get this done. A $15 dollar an hour minimum wage will give more than one million families a stronger foothold in the middle class, and allow those who aspire to enter the middle class the means to do so. The people this will help are the same people all of us rely on – maintenance workers, child-care workers and home health aides, security guards, and many more.”

In addition, Murphy called for the legalization of recreational marijuana for adults, another 2018 holdover.

“By legalizing adult-use marijuana – first and foremost – we can reverse the inequality and unfairness left from years of failed drug policies and shift public safety resources to where they can do the most good,” the governor said. “We must ensure that those with a past mark on their records because of a low-level offense can have that stain removed, so they can move forward to get a stable job or an education.

“But, it will also allow us to broadly benefit from creating an entirely new and legal industry, much as we did last year with sports betting,” he added. “We are learning from the states that went before us on what not to do, but we are also seeing the positive economic impacts. Massachusetts’ new industry is creating an estimated 19,000 new jobs. And, in Colorado, legalization fostered an industry that has an annual statewide economic impact measured at $2.4 billion, with 18,000 new jobs created in research, agriculture, processing, and retail.”