Government
Report to members
By Michele N. Siekerka, President and CEO of NJBIA, on November 25, 2024
NJBIA’s annual business outlook survey not only tells us how you – the true representatives of New Jersey businesses – are doing now, but also helps us inform our policymakers about how they can help improve the business climate.
You can certainly learn a lot from the 2025 Business Outlook survey presented on pages 20-26.
Not surprisingly, the needs and wants of New Jersey business owners reflect almost exactly the policies we have fought for over the past few years.
First, we asked what actions you would like to see from the next governor of New Jersey, who will be elected in less than a year.
Two of the top three responses were property tax relief and a corporate tax cut.
Well, we’ve definitely pushed hard for property tax relief, especially since our businesses pay nearly half of the state’s property taxes annually. Yet they were excluded from programs like ANCHOR and Stay NJ.
Of course, we fought tooth and nail to stop Governor Phil Murphy from abandoning his earlier commitment to lower CBT. Unfortunately, he still made it back to the highest rating in the country.
Many small businesses in this survey called for a cut in corporate tax, which justifies why we fought so hard for it. You know, as we have always said, the negative impact of high CBT impacting smaller employers.
We fought for a bill led by the NJBIA that would have created the Government Efficiency and Regulatory Review (GEARR) Commission. It would have identified and addressed costly government efficiencies and bureaucracy.
But despite the unanimous approval in the legislature, Governor Murphy still vetoed it.
However, we at NJBIA are optimistic that this bill will get a second chance in 2025 as we hear from both sides that it is a no-brainer for New Jersey’s business community.
With this data now in hand, we will continue to ensure it reaches the eyes and ears of our policymakers to help deliver a much-needed improvement in our business climate. And as always, we thank you for your valuable feedback.
For more business news, visit NJB News Now.
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