Gov. Murphy Defends $14 Billion Tax Break Program

In January 2019, Governor Phil Murphy spent the first 20 minutes of his annual State of the State speech on the need to reform New Jersey's business tax incentive system. One of his chief concerns was the billion dollars in tax revenue the state was losing every year. 

"To those who bemoan our ability to pay for even the most basic items in our budget, let me say this, simply put, is nuts," Murphy said. 

But today, Murphy hailed the passage of a new $14 billion tax break program by the New Jersey Legislature, which was approved just days after the bill was made public.   

The bill could allow as much as $2 billion a year in tax breaks. Murphy insists he got everything in the new program he had sought, including a cap on awards, grants to small businesses, tech start-ups and the redevelopment of contaminated industrial land.

 “Massive investment in business subsidies won’t lead to the economic recovery we need," said Dena Mottola Jaborska, Associate Director of NJ Citizen Action. "The Governor should veto this bill and give the public time to weigh in on the value of these subsidies and the best ways to stimulate the economy, because this costly, rushed, corporation-driven bill is not the answer.”

The governor says the bill needed to be rushed through because the pandemic is hurting New Jersey's economy.