PENNINGTON -- Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday vetoed a proposal to boost New Jersey's minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The Republican governor visited a Pennington grocery store to make remarks and announce the veto of the legislation. It's the second time during his time as governor that Christie rejected a minimum wage hike sent to him by the state's Democratic-controlled Legislature.

The move was met with outrage by Democratic-leaning groups.

Christie also argued more employees would be replaced by automated kiosks at small businesses if the state hikes its minimum wage.

"That's the way of the future if we continue to do this really radical increase with the minimum wage," Christie said.

"All of this sounds great, raising the minimum wage, when you're spending someone else's money," he said. "It should bother you because when you come into Pennington Quality Market your food is going to be more expensive."

The measure sought to raise the minimum wage from $8.38 to $10.10 on Jan. 1, 2017, and then by more than $1.25 an hour until 2021. After 2021, the minimum wage would increase annually based on changes in the consumer price index.

Christie railed against Democrats for trying to force the hike.

"This type of heavy hand of government, to say that we know better than the people who actually run these businesses, is the reason why in past administrations New Jersey has gotten less and less affordable," he said.

Christie added: "This measure is a complete pander to folks who are uninformed because they neither receive the minimum wage or pay it."

New Jersey Policy Perspective, a liberal Trenton think tank, criticized the governor for having "failed to take advantage of a great opportunity to give nearly 1 million New Jersey workers a raise," said Jon Whiten, vice president of NJPP.

NJPP has estimated 975,000 people would benefit from the wage hike.

"Instead, he has decided to allow employers to continue paying 975,000 New Jerseyans so little that they can't survive on their wages alone in this high-cost state," Whiten said. "These workers and their families must continue to rely on the publicly funded safety net and the charity of the private nonprofit sector just to put food on the table, clothes on their backs and a roof over their heads."

Business owners argued when the bill made its way through the Legislature that sharp increases in labor costs could force them to raise prices, cut hours and staff, and possibly close up shop, shrinking the labor market.

Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, praised the governor on the veto.

"Increasing the minimum wage to $15, as prescribed in the bill vetoed today, is too much too fast," Siekerka said.

"The governor's veto has saved thousands of small businesses from the negative impacts of a 79 percent increase in the minimum wage," she said. "Had this bill been signed, it would not only have hurt the New Jersey economy, but it would have hurt the exact workers the proponents of this policy are trying to help."

But workers and worker advocates said the measure was needed because many workers have trouble trying to get by on the minimum wage in such a high-cost state.

The annual take-home pay for a full-time worker earning the minimum wage in New Jersey is about $17,430. The United Way of Northern New Jersey has estimated a single adult in New Jersey would need to earn $13.78 an hour to meet his or her basic needs, and $19.73 per hour for "better food and shelter, plus modest savings."

Christie agreed with the business community that hiking the minimum wage would hurt New Jersey's small businesses.

"If we're forced to reduce staff our customer service drops and we're forced to increase prices," said Mike Rothwell, owner of Pennington Quality Market.

Rothwell argued hiking the minimum wage would threaten the future of his store and would make it more likely he would need to shutter his family-owned business because he wouldn't be able to compete with big box stores.

Democratic leaders had said they would attempt to place the measure on the fall 2017 ballot for voter approval, which would push back the timeline for hitting $15, if Christie vetoed the bill.

Anticipating that, Christie urged business leaders to "speak up."

"There's going to be a large and, I hope, loud public discussion about this," he said. "Those who choose to stay under the radar will lose. We need to educate the public on this issue."

New Jersey's minimum wage is already controlled by the state Constitution. Democrats went that route after Christie in 2013 vetoed a minimum wage bill that he said would hurt the economy. Christie instead offered to phase the $1 increase in over three years, with no automatic increases.

Democrats took their plan to voters, who agreed to amend the state constitution to increase the minimum wage by $1 to $8.25 an hour and then adjust annually based on the Consumer Price Index. Wages rose 13 cents in January 2015 and did not increase in 2016.

A short time after Christie vetoed the bill, Democratic-leaning groups in the state called on lawmakers to follow through with that commitment.

"Our coalition is prepared to continue to build on our effort to raise the people of this state out of poverty including a large number of women, people of color, adult heads of households," said Analilia Mejia, director of NJ Working Families Alliance.

"We call our Legislature to live up to their commitment to the working families of the state and circumvent this veto by placing a comprehensive measure that raises all families on the ballot," she said.

Within hours of the veto, a top Democratic lawmaker confirmed the Legislature will push for a ballot question for voters to decide the issue.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Samantha Marcus contributed to this report.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or on Facebook. Follow NJ.com Politics on Facebook.