Legislation supported by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association that would bring much-needed regulatory relief to New Jersey businesses was approved today by the Assembly.
A-4810, co-sponsored by Assemblywomen Nancy Pinkin (D-18), Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-37) and Carol A. Murphy (D-7) would create and formalize the Government Efficiency and Regulatory Review (GEARR) Commission to ease government regulation and support economic growth.
The measure passed in the Assembly by a 72-1 vote.
NJBIA Vice President of Government Affairs Christopher Emigholz said the bill would make permanent a red-tape-review-like commission to assist businesses when they need it most.
“Government should be constantly improving and always striving to be leaner and more efficient for the sake of good stewardship of taxpayer dollars and better-quality service to its constituents, and a commission like this will push us in that direction,” Emigholz said.
The GEARR Commission would be comprised of nine members from the Executive and Legislative branches of State Government who would be tasked with reviewing rules, regulations and executive orders, to determine if their costs outweigh their benefits.
From public comments and other research, the GEARR Commission would generate ideas to help businesses, workers, and local governments.
The commission would meet once every six months and provide an annual report to the Governor and Legislature. This report would include recommendations to improve government rules, regulations, or executive orders determined as burdens.
Emigholz said that while businesses and manufacturers need an improved tax climate, innovation ecosystem, workforce development pipeline and infrastructure, reducing their regulatory burden is the only component for growth that will not cost the government anything.
Additionally, the formation of a commission to review New Jersey’s regulatory structure and identify inefficiencies and overly burdensome red tape was one of the recommendations made to improve the state’s innovation economy in NJBIA’s 2020 Indicators of Innovation report, released last month.
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