Hearing Unit, State House Annex, PO 068, Trenton, New Jersey
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Committee Meeting of ASSEMBLY SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT "Testimony on economic development efforts" LOCATION: Committee Room 11 DATE: October 7, 2010 State House Annex 10:00 a.m. Trenton, New Jersey MEMBERS OF COMMITTEE PRESENT: Assemblyman Albert Coutinho, Chair Assemblyman Upendra J. Chivukula Assemblyman Wayne P. DeAngelo Assemblyman Joseph V. Egan Assemblyman Louis D. Greenwald Assemblywoman Mila M. Jasey Assemblywoman Nellie Pou Assemblyman Gary S. Schaer Assemblywoman Linda Stender Assemblyman John S. Wisniewski Assemblyman Anthony M. Bucco Assemblyman Joseph R. Malone III Assemblyman David P. Rible Assemblyman Scott Rudder Assemblyman Robert Schroeder Assemblyman Jay Webber ALSO PRESENT: Edward P. Westreich Francisco Maldonado Thea M. Sheridan Office of Legislative Services Assembly Majority Assembly Republican Committee Aide Committee Aide Committee Aide Meeting Recorded and Transcribed by The Office of Legislative Services, Public Information Office, Hearing Unit, State House Annex, PO 068, Trenton, New Jersey TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Caren S. Franzini Chief Executive Officer New Jersey Economic Development Authority 6 Debbie Hart President BioNJ 46 Lawrence A. Nespoli, Ed.D. President New Jersey Council of County Colleges, and Representing New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development 57 Patricia C. Donohue, Ph.D. President Mercer County Community College, and Representing New Jersey County College Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development 60 Raymond Yannuzzi, D.A. President Camden County College, and Representing New Jersey County College Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development 62 Melanie Willoughby Senior Vice President Government Affairs New Jersey Business and Industry Association 67 Patrick L. Ryan Chairman Hopewell Valley Community Bank 73 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Michael G. McGuinness Chief Executive Officer New Jersey Chapter NAIOP 103 James B. Kehoe President New Jersey State Association of Pipe Trades 109 Stephen M. Aldrich Business Manager Financial Secretary Delegate to International Convention Local 269 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 124 Michael Travostino Director Government Affairs Building Contractors Association of New Jersey 126 Marcus Rayner Executive Director New Jersey Lawsuit Reform Alliance 127 Jon Aneson Board Director and Member Legislative Affairs Committee New Jersey Restaurant Association, and Representing Tiki Taco 132 Joseph A. McNamara Director New Jersey State Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust 142 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Michael Egenton Senior Vice President Environment and Transportation New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce 148 Marilyn Grabowski President Atlantic Infrared, Inc., and Supplier Diversity Development Council New Jersey Board of Public Utilities 164 David J. Lorette, Esq. Vice President Government Affairs and Communications Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey 173 APPENDIX: Testimony submitted by Debbie Hart 1x Report, plus attachments submitted by Lawrence A. Nespoli, Ed.D. 4x Testimony, plus attachments submitted by Melanie Willoughby 24x Testimony submitted by Michael Travostino 214x Testimony submitted by Marcus Rayner 216x TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) APPENDIX (continued): Page Statement submitted by Jon Aneson 218x Letter addressed to Assembly Special Committee on Economic Development from Timothy J. Touhey Chief Executive Officer New Jersey Builders Association 219x Testimony, plus attachment submitted by Dan Disario Representing International Council of Shopping Centers 220x Letter addressed to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, and Assembly Special Committee on Economic Development from Eric DeGesero Executive Vice President, and Kat Madaras Associate Director Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey 224x Letter addressed to Assembly Special Committee on Economic Development from Jerry Cantrell President Common Sense Institute of New Jersey 225x rs: 1-176 ASSEMBLYMAN ALBERT COUTINHO (Chair): Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Special Assembly Committee meeting that hopefully will be an important first step to a stronger New Jersey. I have the honor of chairing this special panel, and I look forward to a productive day on behalf of our State and all its major shareholders, including its businesses and workers. To start, I’d like to thank Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver for taking this initiative and focusing on the single most important issue facing the State of New Jersey, and that is job creation and putting New Jerseyans back to work. And to all my colleagues who are here today, welcome. I look forward to working with all of you in a bipartisan fashion to do what’s best for the State of New Jersey. We all know that things can get testy here under the golden dome, and unfortunately we continue to see partisanship on display in recent months from both sides. Some of it is based on legitimate disagreements of philosophies and viewpoints on what is best for the State of New Jersey. But whatever it is, I hope today can be a fresh start in addressing economic development issues and job creation for the State of New Jersey. We know that there are many issues facing our State: from property taxes, to affordable housing, to health care, to education reform. I have supported many of the government reform initiatives that we have handled on a bipartisan basis and will continue to do so. But it is our job here today to look at: How do we grow the State’s economy and create jobs? Unemployment sits stubbornly at 9.6 percent, and the Federal Reserve has certified that New Jersey’s recovery 1 will likely be slower than other states -- reports out today say that New Jersey businesses are less optimistic than they were this spring. This is not a partisan issue, ladies and gentlemen, this is not a political issue. This is an issue about New Jersey and its economy. I know that we all love this state and want what’s best for it. Let’s proceed with that spirit in mind. I will do my best to make sure that we move forward together. We need to find out what State businesses and job programs are working and what needs to be improved. We need to hear from stakeholders. We need to hear from these businesses and ask them what can we do to help them invest and expand their businesses here in New Jersey, and allow them to quickly invigorate our economy so that it can flourish and create jobs. We need a creative jobs program that will help lift New Jersey out of this recession and make it more affordable for everyone. We have brought together members from various Assembly committees here today. And, again, I want to congratulate the Speaker for understanding that the issue of economic development is interrelated. So today we have members here from the Assembly Budget Committee, from Commerce and Economic Development, Financial Institutions and Insurance, Labor, Telecommunications and Utilities, and the Transportation committees. This is, without question, a great cross section of the Assembly. I, and I know you as well, hope to hear discussion on many issues today, including what tax breaks and incentives for businesses can be put in place that will help promote expansion and job creation, what rules and regulations continue to be burdensome and need to be either modified or eliminated. How do we promote jobs in the area of renewable energy or 2 green jobs? How do we control health insurance costs that burden businesses and employees? Whether corporate governance laws need tweaking to make the State more competitive with neighboring states, or what Federal assistance may be available to help invigorate our economy and put people back to work. What role can tourism play in the economic recovery? There are many questions. And I think we begin to see where bringing different committee heads together, between Chairs, Vice Chairs, ranking members from the Republican side, we can hopefully come out of this with some ideas that will generate legislation and help us get on the right foot. Economic development and recovery from this recession is a complicated issue, and it involves all sectors. We need to listen. We need to listen to the people out in the fields. There are no Democratic or Republican solutions. We need to hear from people who work every day, and get their insight into what we need to do to move forward. Coordination is critical if we are to develop a successful and effective integrated economic development plan. And that is our goal with this hearing here today; nothing else. My hope actually is that this will be the first step toward cooperatively creating a state-of-the-art and innovative economic development plan that will put New Jersey at the forefront of the United States. And it is my hope that we will do this together in the spirit of bipartisanship and to do what’s best for our constituents, the residents of the State of New Jersey. Again, thank you. I look forward to a productive hearing. 3 I believe Assemblyman Malone has an opening statement as well. ASSEMBLYMAN MALONE: Thank you very much, Chairman Coutinho, and more directly, Speaker Oliver, for convening this hearing today. Our task is to address the issues that are facing our State’s economy, and the lives and futures of all New Jerseyans. We must create an environment that makes government work for people. We must give businesses the cooperation, freedom, and tools to build our economy’s road to the future. Government must show businesses that we can be a partner, not a plague. The old ways of taxing and regulating businesses into extinction must stop with us. We must join with the Christie Administration and their economic team in a bipartisan effort to find a solution. We are blessed with some of the most brilliant minds and the most innovative companies in the world, and yet we falter. The question is: Why? Have we put politics before people, greed before prosperity, and bold words with no deeds? We owe it to the business community and residents to give them the hard, truthful answers about our failures to lead in a time of crisis.