It's not often that regular citizens get an opportunity to speak directly to legislators while they are conducting official business in the State House in Trenton.

When Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce announced a bipartisan committee hearing for anyone in the public, NJBIA immediately reached out to its member companies to make them aware of this opportunity. Four NJBIA members addressed the committee on February 2, calling for lower taxes and fees, relaxed rules for small businesses, better workforce training, and a bidding preference for State government to purchase products manufactured in New Jersey.

Ralph Evangelista, a partner with the accounting firm Frazer, Evangelista & Company in East Brunswick, called for the elimination of several taxes and fees on businesses. He said the State should eliminate the Corporate Minimum Tax of up to $2,000 on businesses that have little or no income. Evangelista urged the State to eliminate the double taxation of S corporations, who first pay the Corporate Minimum Tax as well as personal income taxes when the income is then distributed to its co-owners. He also said the Licensed Professional Fee of $150 should be cut. "(The fee) makes NJ quite unattractive to professionals not yet established here," Evangelista said. "What is it that professionals receive, since the $150 came into existence, that they weren't receiving prior to the fee being assessed? Don't we already pay for our licenses?"

Matt Deiner of Francis Cable Company in Lakewood said legislators should give preference to materials manufactured in New Jersey on publicly financed construction jobs such as schools and hospitals. The State spends a great deal of money on the contractors, but does not help the manufacturers. "Most of the material used in these building projects comes from out-of-state manufacturing companies, leaving us out in the cold," Deiner said. A-1685 (Burzichelli, Greenwald) would provide such a preference. NJBIA supports the bill.

Thomas Gilmour, director of commerce for Asbury Park, said New Jersey should make it easier for small businesses to operate here. He specifically called for repealing the State's paid family leave law, which entitles workers at all businesses, regardless of size, to six weeks of paid leave to care for a sick family member or newborn. He said the State should also eliminate the prevailing wage, which requires contractors to pay inflated union-scale wages when they work on State projects. "They are just another reason to increase costs and are a brick wall for many construction projects," Gilmour said. "The added cost of projects that include prevailing wages is 30 percent."

Daniel Hogan of Hogan Security Group in Pennington told lawmakers that New Jersey's workforce training programs focuses too heavily on white-collar jobs, while businesses have a greater need to train skilled tradesmen and technical workers. "Small businesses like mine would love to expand. However the time and financial burden necessary to train employees is beyond the already challenged resources we all have," Hogan said. "We need help."

2. NJBIA Wants Quality, Affordability and Accountability from Education System

NJBIA has been working to get legislators to think of education as a business issue. After all, businesses ultimately hire workers who have graduated from the State's public school system, and businesses pay a lot of the state and local taxes that finance schools.

Testifying at a Senate Education Committee hearing on general education issues, Chris Emigholz, NJBIA's director for Education Affairs, said businesses are looking for greater accountability, affordability and quality from New Jersey schools. "Business needs well-prepared employees to remain economically competitive with other states and other nations," Emigholz said. "And our children need the right skills to obtain high-paying jobs and become contributing citizens to our state's economy." NJBIA's recommendations for the State included:

- require greater academic achievement for high school diplomas, including more science, math and other high-level coursework;

- hold schools more accountable in meeting educational standards and spending taxpayers' money efficiently;

- provide a scholarship or voucher to students to attend the public or private schools of their choice;

- Expand the existing Interdistrict Public School Choice Pilot Program.

For more information, contact Chris Emigholz.

3. NJBIA Backs Local Regulatory Reform Bill

One of the things that hurts New Jersey's ability to retain and attract businesses is its tendency to change regulations in mid-stream.

Even after a business submits a permit or development application, they frequently have to update or resubmit their applications to meet changing rules, that's why NJBIA has endorsed legislation, S-82 (Rice), which would require local governments to make decisions on development applications based on the ordinances that were in force when the application was originally submitted. The measure cleared the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee on February 4.

This bill includes an exception for regulations relating to health and public safety, but overall, it should accelerate application decisions and make the process more predictable as well. The legislation mirrors action taken by Governor Chris Christie earlier this year for State agencies. In January, he signed an executive order requiring State agencies to base permit approvals on the rules in force when applications for permits are first filed. For more information, contact Art Maurice.

4. Meet the Decision Makers: NJ's Senate President and Assembly Speaker, Feb. 19

NJBIA has invited NJ's two most powerful legislative leaders, Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, to speak with NJBIA members at this special breakfast event, Friday, February 19 at the Forsgate Country Club in Monroe Township. Register online now.

View a List of Other Pending Bills We're Following