The state's business lobby vows to fight the plan tooth and nail. Michele Siekerka, CEO of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, insists that small business already has a burden just making ends meet now.
"Putting this mandate on top of everything else is going to hit those with the smallest profit margins the hardest," she siad. "And they're going to struggle. They're going to stagnate. They might even just simply fail."
New Jersey Policy Perspective, on the other hand, has long called for this, and lauds the agreement.
"I definitely expect a fight, but the fight's been happening in back rooms and in legislative offices all across the state." said spokesman Lou DiPaolo.
He not only predicts passage, but hints it could come as early as next month.