Governor Chris Christie took a hard-left turn on Friday, raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco and signing bills to appease the state’s power LGBTQ-etc. and so on lobby.
But on the business front? Unless, of course, you own convenience stores heavily dependent on tobacco sales?
There were some bright spots.
The Governor vetoed a handful of anti-business legislative efforts including a measure to impose state sales, use, and hotel and motel occupancy taxes/fees on ” transient accommodations” and a ban on the sale of certain types of children’s mattresses.
Most significantly, he vetoed a super-expensive attempt to expand the state’s family leave law.
“Through the power of his veto, the governor has repeatedly demonstrated over the course of both of his terms that he is committed to the small business community in the state of New Jersey,” opined National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) NewJersey State Director, Laurie Ehlbeck. “Unfortunately legislators have yet to understand the repercussions that their laws could have on the productivity of businesses of all sizes. Expanding mandatory paid leave will no doubt have a detrimental impact on the job creators in a state that is just now beginning to recover from the great recession.”
“We continue to be grateful for the Governor and his leadership on issues that are most impactful on our members,” added Ehlbeck. “However, the fact that his days in office are waning is not lost on any of us.”
Business leaders will miss Christie’s leadership if Democrat nominee Phil Murphy (D-Goldman Sachs) succeeds him in January; Murphy’s current spending proposals would more than triple New Jersey’s budget. The only way to pay for it all will be massive tax hikes on the state’s ever-shrinking pool of job creators.
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