Statement of Amy Goldsmith, New Jersey State Director:

Trenton, NJ – Clean Water Action applauds Governor Murphy and the state’s comptroller for conducting a thorough audit of the Economic Development Authority (EDA) and announcing major reforms. It is long overdue. The audit affirms what Clean Water Action has been saying for decades – corporate hand outs have provided little to no benefits to the New Jersey economy other than to line the pockets of stockholders and polluters at the expense of taxpayers.

The state must end its reckless practice of corporate giveaways to those who least need it. More often than not, corporate welfare fails to deliver the promised jobs and economic benefits and prevents needed investments in New Jersey.

It is unconscionable that corporate tax credit recipients claimed the system with unverifiable procedures that favored giveaways over real results – more jobs and a stronger economy at a time when New Jersey was lagging behind others after the 2008 crash.

Multi-billion precious tax dollars could have been utilized for the greater good – funding green energy innovations, environmental protection, lead abatement, affordable housing, educational improvements and so much more. Instead of signing over a blank “do nothing” check to corporations maybe we could have avoided the extreme cuts (more than 25 percent) to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) workforce, a 75 percent drop in enforcement actions against polluters, as well as raids to the Clean Energy Fund and NJ Transit.

Governor Murphy’s Economic Development Plan as released last year calls for a “Stronger Fairer NJ” and investing in people and communities. As we enter next year’s state budget process, we join Governor Murphy in his efforts to ensure that the state invests in real people, produces permanent family supporting jobs, and lifts up neighborhoods that have long been left behind in the past.

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Clean Water Action has more than 150,000 members statewide in New Jersey and is the nation’s largest grassroots group focused on water, energy and environmental health. Since our founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking and people power to the table. We will protect clean water in the face of attacks from a polluter friendly Administration and Congress. www.cleanwater.org/nj