New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday signed legislation that will boost the salaries of the state's justices, judges, cabinet officers and county prosecutors.

“This long overdue measure marks the first increase in judicial salaries in nearly a decade and is critical to ensuring that we continue to retain and attract quality legal talent to the State bench,” Murphy said in a statement, also taking the opportunity to urge the Legislature to increase the minimum wage for all workers.

In an April vote split along party lines, lawmakers voted to approve S-1229, sponsored by Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, which gives judges $8,000 raises over the next three years, and then provides for raises based on changes in the Consumer Price Index.

If the CPI falls, judges would not face a pay cut, as the state constitution forbids reducing judicial salaries.

The bill garnered support from both the judiciary and the New Jersey State Bar Association.

Currently, the chief justice of the Supreme Court is paid $192,795 a year. Associate justices are paid $185,482; Appellate Division judges, $175,534; assignment judges, $171,730; and trial judges and Tax Court judges, $165,000.

Under the bill, the state's 21 county prosecutors would receive the same pay as trial judges, and cabinet officers would see a salary increase from $141,000 to $175,000 a year.

Judiciary salaries have not changed since 2009. And because of 2011 statutory changes in the amount judges have to pay into their pension and health benefits systems, judges are taking home less pay than they were years ago, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner pointed out to lawmakers in a letter supporting the measure earlier this year.

The Legislature last considered a pay raise for judges in 2016. However, the measure was tied to a provision that would have allowed Republican Gov. Chris Christie, following his failed attempt to win his party's nomination for the presidency, to profit from an autobiography. The measure, after significant public protest, made it through various legislative committees but was never put to a full vote in either the Assembly or Senate.

In Friday's statement on the judicial pay raise legislation, Murphy also urged lawmakers to increase the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour. Such legislation is pending in the Legislature, but it faces opposition from business and industry groups.

“As important as it is to make sure judges and senior public servants are justly compensated, we cannot allow ourselves to forget the more than 1 million hardworking New Jerseyans who are currently struggling to provide for themselves and their families on a substandard hourly wage. This is completely unacceptable—and changing this unfair status quo has been a priority of mine since day one,” Murphy said in the statement.

“I urge the Legislature to move quickly to advance legislation that will increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour,” he added. “A $15 minimum wage will not only ensure that all New Jersey workers can earn a livable wage, but will also stimulate and strengthen our economy.”