Lesniak Calls On NJ Legislators To ‘End The Tax Incentives Food Fight’
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In a letter sent to the entire New Jersey Legislature, former Senator Raymond Lesniak (D-20) called on Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature to “rise above the political vitriol and extend the tax incentive program that New Jersey needs to be competitive for business investment and job creation with other states and internationally.”
Lesniak’s plea to Legislators and Governor Murphy is – Mend Them. Don’t End Them.
“Tax incentives signed into law by Governors Kean, Corzine and Christie have brought to the state that is rated one of the worse states in the country for business development $17 billion of investments and created more than 100,000 jobs, said Lesniak, “Indeed, Governor Murphy endorsed a $5 billion targeted tax break for Amazon to locate in New Jersey and signed tax incentives for the motion picture and TV industry to create jobs in our state.
“End the food fight and get down to the business of attracting investment and jobs to New
Jersey,” added the elder statesman.
Lesniak: “Tax incentives signed into law by Governors Kean, Corzine and Christie have brought to the state that is rated one of the worse states in the country for business development $17 billion of investments and created more than 100,000 jobs.” Kean was in office in the 1980s, which means tax incentives have been around for four decades. Nonetheless, Lesniak concedes that NJ is currently rated one of the worst states for business investments. If that’s the case then why should we continue on the same course with tax incentives? The testimony so far in the tax incentives task force meetings have indicated that laws may have been broken. Therefore, this issue is not a simple political food fight; it is a serious legal matter that deserves attention. And how is it Mr. Lesniak that when the tax incentives laws were being written special sweeteners were placed in the bill for Camden (population 70,000), while the much larger Elizabeth (population 130,000), in your district, received no such special treatment. Maybe the Lesniak Institute for American Leadership at Kean University (president Dawood Farahi, a Lesniak ally who faced sharp criticism for embellishing his resume and buying a $250,000 conference table from China) should teach a course on how to get rolled in politics. And speaking of Kean, former Governor Tom Kean was on television the other day and he characterized the current subsidies program as a form of bribery.