TRENTON — Attempting to set the tone for 2011, Democrats in the Senate and Assembly today passed more than a dozen bills aimed at revamping the state’s economy. "Today we sent a strong message to residents and the business community that 2011 will not be another lost year for New Jersey’s economy," said Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester). The...
TRENTON — Attempting to set the tone for 2011, Democrats in the Senate and Assembly today passed more than a dozen bills aimed at revamping the state’s economy.
"Today we sent a strong message to residents and the business community that 2011 will not be another lost year for New Jersey’s economy," said Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester).
The bills offer hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate tax breaks and incentives intended to spur business development. Some had bipartisan sponsorship, but many met with resistance from both sides of the political spectrum.
Gov. Chris Christie and other Republicans have raised questions as to whether the state can afford to do away with crucial tax revenue in another year with a tight budget squeeze.
"I will consider all the different ideas that Democrats and the Republicans in the Legislature have regarding tax cuts, but all of them have to be figured out in the context of a balanced budget," Christie said Wednesday.
A liberal group called the bills a "bailout by another name."
"By rushing these bills to the floor, legislators in Trenton are proving once again that they are more interested in looking out for Wall Street than Main Street," said Bill Holland, spokesman for New Jersey Working Families Alliance.
The Senate and Assembly will return Monday to finish passing the rest of the package, which numbers 33 bills in all. Among the more far-reaching bills passed today:
• An overhaul of the corporate tax code so companies headquartered in New Jersey pay income taxes based solely on sales made in-state (A1676). Currently, companies that do business in other states pay state income taxes on a formula taking into account in-state sales, payroll, and property. An analysis by the liberal-leaning New Jersey Policy Perspective of a 2001 version of the bill said it would amount to a $250 million revenue loss. The bill passed the Assembly 73-0 and Senate 39-0.
• Allow business owners to offset taxes on gains from one of their businesses with losses from another, and to carry forward those losses for 20 years (S1540). The State Division of Taxation estimates it will mean as much as $400 million in annual lost revenue, though sponsor Lou Greenwald (D-Camden) called that figure "overly aggressive." "It will be less tax revenue but will create more income for the individual owner that they can replenish back into the business," he said. It passed 76-0 in the Assembly and 39-0 in the Assembly.
• An on-the-job training so people on the unemployment rolls train with potential employers The state will pay them up to $100 a week for costs such as transportation, clothing and child care. The bill (A3584), which passed 46-28 with two abstentions in the Assembly and 25-12 in the Senate, would use $10 million from the state budget, not including unemployment benefits paid to the trainees.
• The "New Jersey Closing Fund," authorizing the state Treasurer to award grants to keep businesses in New Jersey and attract new ones. The bill (A3353), which passed the Assembly 45-28 with three abstentions and the Senate 30-7, limits the amount the state could give out to $50 million.