NEW JERSEY POLICY PERSPECTIVE VICE PRESIDENT JON WHITEN:

“This is a fitting but unfortunate end to the Christie era, with the governor – and an  uncritical Democratic legislature – having overseen a massive and short-sighted expansion of corporate tax subsidies since January 2010. In fact, the governor has now presided over the approval of an astonishing number of 9-figure subsidy deals – 13 to be precise – and with this final legislative act, will clear the way for a colossal 10-figure deal.

Instead of coming up with a sensible plan to reverse billions of dollars of disinvestment in New Jersey’s top economic assets, like public transit or higher education or high-quality preschool, the state’s lawmakers have doubled down on trickle-down economics by clearing the way for a gigantic tax subsidy for Amazon. If New Jersey wants to build a stronger, brighter future, it needs to seriously rethink and reform its use and abuse of these special tax breaks – not just continuously expand them at every turn of the corner.”

New Jersey’s subsidy surge, by the numbers (figures are up-to-date through the EDA’s December 2017 meeting – they do not include any of the deals approved this week):

• $8.3 billion: Total amount of tax breaks approved since January 2010 (a monthly rate of $87 million)
• $5.7 billion: Of that, the amount that’s come since December 2013, when the “Economic Opportunity Act of 2013” went into effect (a monthly rate of $117 million)

New Jersey’s 13 nine-figure subsidy deals under Christie administration (through Dec. 2017):

Panasonic (Newark): $102,408,062 February 2011

Prudential Financial (Newark): $210,828,357 June 2012

American Dream Mall (East Rutherford): $390,000,000 November 2013

Legislative overhaul goes into effect December 2013

MMC-DB Group LLC (Paterson): $105,559,214 December 2013

JP Morgan Chase (Jersey City): $224,835,000 May 2014

Sayreville Seaport (Sayreville): $223,277,590 May 2014

Holtec International (Camden): $260,000,000 July 2014

Lockheed Martin (Camden): $107,000,000 November 2014

Subaru (Camden): $117,832,868 December 2014

American Water Works (Camden): $164,187,735 June 2015

JP Morgan Chase (Jersey City): $187,781,000 July 2015

EMR Eastern (Camden): $148,589,900 September 2015

Resintech Inc. (Camden): $138,817,600 October 2016

Note #1: This does not include nine-figure deals that were closed and later abandoned before awarding any tax breaks (ie, the $261 million deal to Revel casino)

Note #2: Only one nine-figure deal preceded Christie: $164,336,000 for Goldman Sachs in Jersey City in 2000