The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
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Trenton NJ, Sal Risalvato, Executive Director of the New Jersey Gasoline, Convenience, Automotive Association (NJGCA) issued the following statement regarding the Treasury’s announcement that the tax on gasoline and diesel motor fuel will be increased by 9.3¢ a gallon starting on October 1st:
Continue reading Gas Tax Increase Hurts First Responders , Small businesses and Essential Workers
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Trenton NJ, CIANJ President Anthony Russo commented on the Governors budget address, “In these uncertain and unprecedented times, the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey (CIANJ) was disappointed that the Governor’s proposed nine month FY21 budget includes new taxes, extensive borrowing and limited reductions in state spending,” said Anthony Russo, President, CIANJ. “New Jersey has never been in a more dire economic situation with nearly a million and half New Jerseyans filing for unemployment and businesses suffering significant losses.”
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Ridgewood NJ, the NJBIA, NJ Chamber of Commerce Issue Joint Statement on Reopening of NJ Businesses :
Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, and Tom Bracken, president and CEO of the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce, issued the following statement today regarding a regional approach to reopening New Jersey businesses.
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Trenton NJ, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that restaurants could not reopen on Thursday, July 2, and instead declared that indoor dining is prohibited indefinitely. Assemblyman Brian Bergen is calling out Murphy for being inconsiderate of the costs of running a business.
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Ridgewood NJ, “This is no longer about safety. This is Governor Murphy forcing businesses to die; businesses that just spent months investing and preparing to open at a time he gave his word to them on. The restaurants placed food orders, bought PPE, hired staff back, and started advertising.
Continue reading George Floyd Protesters Get Free Pass ,but ReopenNJ Protesters Get Fined
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RAMSEY NJ, Frank Pallotta, Republican candidate for New Jersey’s Fifth Congressional District, offered praise of the New Jersey Republican Party’s lawsuit against Governor Phil Murphy. The lawsuit comes as Murphy faces a crisis of leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. From long-term care facility deaths approaching 6,000 to an unemployment rate that has soared to 15%, it is clear that in comparing New Jersey to other states that these failures rest squarely on the shoulders of Phil Murphy and his gross incompetence in managing our state through this crisis. On the eve of Memorial Day Weekend, in particular, we should be ashamed of the fact that COVID-19 was allowed to spread unchecked—thanks to the policies of Governor Murphy—at the state-run New Jersey Veterans Home, creating one of the deadliest epicenter for the virus in the state.
Continue reading Time to Stand Up For New Jersey’s Small Businesses
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Trenton NJ, New Jersey Business and Industry Association Vice President of Government Affairs Chris Emigholz called for a stop on “unrelenting” and “unnecessary” tax increases in his testimony on the FY 2021 State Budget before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee today at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Continue reading New Jersey Business and Industry Association Says ,”No Tax Increases”
If the state were a business, it would be bankrupt. The difference is that taxpayers are more certain than customers to provide a stream of revenue.
It just so happens that the number-one taxpayer target for Democrats is businesses — the job creators that help the economy grow and help people afford putting food on the table for their families and themselves. When the cost of living is too high because of taxes, which drive up prices of the products we buy and limit the money we have to buy them, Democrats tell businesses that they have to raise wages.
Continue reading We can’t grow the economic pie if government eats it
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Trenton NJ, Assembly Republicans are walking to their talk of cutting the corporate business tax to make the state more business friendly. Assemblymen Christopher DePhillips and John DiMaio are introducing a bill (A3754) with Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso that would gradually cut the rate to a flat 2.5 percent.
“The reason we need a tax incentive program to attract businesses is because taxes are too high,” said DePhillips (R-Bergen). “The simple answer is to lower the rate to a point that makes New Jersey more attractive financially than other states.”
Continue reading NJ Assembly Republicans Push Bill to Cut State Corporate Income Taxes
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Trenton NJ, Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean rebuked the idea that $3 billion in annual tax increases would solve New Jersey’s fiscal woes.
Continue reading $3 billion in Annual Tax Increases Would Not Solve New Jersey’s fiscal Woes
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Trenton NJ, Senator Anthony M. Bucco said calls from a progressive coalition for $3 billion of higher taxes and new spending is the exact opposite of what New Jersey should do to improve affordability for families.
“Despite what these left-wing groups are saying, New Jersey’s problem isn’t that we tax and spend too little, it’s that we tax and spend too much,” said Bucco (R-25). “How many times have we been promised that another billion or two in taxes is the answer to all of our state’s problems? It’s never worked. We’re now stuck with the highest taxes in the country and a crisis of affordability that’s driving families and retirees from New Jersey in droves.”
Continue reading New Jersey Families Need Tax Relief Not More Taxes
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Ridgewood NJ, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a small business association with thousands of members in the state, and the New Jersey Civil Justice Institute filed an amici curiae brief in a case with major implications for well-intended business owners who may face punishment for relying on guidance from government agents in wage and hour disputes. The state Supreme Court is considering whether Cream-O-Land Dairy can assert a “good faith” defense against penalties for allegedly violating New Jersey employment regulations where the company acted in conformance with judgments from state officials who previously concluded—on at least three separate occasions—that the company was in full compliance. The State argues that this good faith defense only applies if the Commissioner of the Department of Labor or the Director of the Wage and Hour Bureau are personally involved; regardless of what their authorized agents may conclude or represent, the Department of Labor says that small business owners may still be liable.
Continue reading Anti Business New Jersey Booby Traps Small Businesses with NJ Wage Law
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Paramus NJ, When California’s AB5 went into effect on January 1, supporters promised the law would result in the reclassification of numerous independent contractors to full- and part-time workers with benefits. Instead, the law’s first month has proved a catastrophe for scores of independent contractors who have lost income, longtime clients and, in some cases, their entire livelihoods overnight. Despite the devastating effects of the law in California, lawmakers in other states are considering enacting similar legislation as Congress plans to vote on a federal version, referred to as the PRO Act (HR2474), this week.
The law purports to protect workers who are misclassified, but its clumsy wording harms thousands of independent contractors who wish to keep their thriving businesses. A wide variety of independent contractors, including journalists and writers, translators, musicians, pilates and yoga instructors, per diem nurses and many more have begun to experience the devastation that the law is causing.
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Ridgewood NJ, New Jersey Business & Industry Association CEO and President Michele N. Siekerka, Esq. issued the following statement in response to the New Jersey Fair Workweek legislation announced today.