By Seth Kaper-Dale

Everyone knows it costs a lot of money to live in New Jersey.

Our pitiful minimum wage makes it near impossible for too many people to afford a decent place to live.

Instead of hovering in the $8 range, we should be heading to $15 an hour as fast as possible. The state Assembly and Senate brought a bill to Gov. Chris Christie calling for minimum wage hike, which he vetoed in August. At that time Senate President Stephen Sweeney said, "we will do the right thing and introduce a constitutional amendment to incrementally raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by the year 2021."

Democrats have talked about how they'd let the people of New Jersey decide about the wage increase, but talk is all it seems to be.

Some Democrats, including Sweeney, have started to insist that there be carve outs for farm workers and younger workers. Based on these demands, the $15 per hour plan looks like it could miss being voted on by the Assembly in time to be place on the ballot in 2017.

Many legislators who claimed to support the minimum wage hike saw voters get behind them during the elections. But creative infighting is allowing those same elected officials the chance to get off the hook from their commitment -- a commitment troubling to many business owners who are often political donors.

Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, who had originally lead the charge by introducing a bill which called for an immediate increase to $15, has refused to call out members of his own party that stand in the way. These actions show that Democrats put party over people and still cater to the wealthy, who always seem to come first in a capitalist economy.

Sometimes hard choices need to be made. It's time to make the minimum wage decision thinking about the needs of those who are "last," instead of always letting the needs of "the first" win the day.

The truth is that wealthy campaign donor's voices are being heard above workers, labor unions and activists from working class neighborhoods.

Senate and Assembly members who have pushed for a no-carve-out minimum wage increase, and who criticized the governor for his veto this summer need to follow through and get this done -- or they should face the consequences at the polls.

Allow the Constitutional Ballot Question on a $15 minimum wage to move forward unhindered, without carve outs.

If Sweeney and others are now backtracking on $15 per hour, then have the guts to make your arguments to New Jerseyans over the next 12 months after you've called for the Ballot Question. That would be an honest approach. What isn't honest is to support $15 when it helps your chances at the polls, and then to ditch it when it might work against your self-interest.

Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale, co-pastor at the Reformed Church of Highland Park, is the Green Party gubernatorial candidate.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.