FRANKLIN, NJ—With a battle brewing between the Democrats in Trenton, Progressive candidate for New Jersey Assembly Ron Rivers announced his support for Governor Phil Murphy’s task force currently investigating official misconduct and improper payments made to to corporations by the NJ Economic Development Authority (EDA).

“In an act that can only be described as brazen, political boss George Norcross and his allies worked to craft the very laws that funneled our tax dollars into their own pockets,” said Rivers. “This is a bitter pill to swallow for any New Jersey resident concerned about our taxes.”

The Norcross-EDA tax breaks scandal is only the latest in a series of unfortunate stories where politically-connected corporations financially dominate the ordinary citizens of our state.

Rivers’ opponents have not spoken up about these injustices, or if they have, it has not been widely publicized.

By contrast, Rivers wants to be clear that he supports the EDA Task Force in its investigation of questionable applications made to state tax break programs, and the inappropriate influence of the law firm Parker McKay on a bill passed by the State Legislature.

“I will stand with Governor Murphy in his fight for transparency and accountability of the allocation and spending of our tax dollars,” said Rivers.

Running for a seat in the Assembly, Rivers is a 35-year-old native of North Brunswick who opposes old-time machine politics and is putting forward a new vision for policies that consider and address the climate crisis and the impact that automation will have on the economy.

Rivers is running in the June 4 Democratic Primary Election in Franklin, Piscataway, New Brunswick, North Brunswick and Milltown.