How many times have we heard elected officials smugly state that we must make businesses “pay their fair share?” No one, even when pressed can quantify what is the mysterious “fair share” with which government officials pontificate.
In New Jersey, the undefined “fair share” is represented by the highest Corporate Business Tax (CBT) in the country, the highest property taxes, highest payroll taxes, the “buck a truck” warehouse surcharge, and on. Coupled with high utility rates, insurance premiums and a labyrinth of costly regulations and operating a business in New Jersey carries an enormous burden unequaled anywhere in the nation.
Yet, many officials treat business as if it were a government slush fund existing solely to underwrite the initiative of the moment.
Taxes and fees are just some of the crosses that businesses in New Jersey must bear. Legislation that impacts every facet of commercial operations is routinely passed with little regard for the negative effect once put into practice. One of the most glaring is the near doubling of the minimum wage in New Jersey. While the governor likes to boast that he “put more money in the pockets of working people,” it is actually the consumers who are supplying the money through higher prices for every good and service in the state. Ironically, it is the low wage worker who will feel the pain of increased labor rates the most when everything they buy, rent or use costs infinitely more.
Legislation and the resultant regulations inflict more hardship on business when it circumvents logical operational procedures. One of the more controversial mandates foisted upon business is requiring paid sick leave for part time and seasonal employees. This tends to benefit younger, healthier workers, many who have just entered the workforce. One small business owner half-jokingly remarked that he can predict when an employee will call in sick by the day, he/she accrues the hour needed for a full paid sick day.
Then there is what I call the “socially conscious” legislation, which typically has some misguided noble intent behind it, but in reality, ends up accomplishing nothing except inflicting more pain on New Jersey businesses. One example is the so-called, “bird feeder” bill. This bill, which is somehow designed to decrease human/bear interactions, provides for heavy fines of over $700 and restrictions on birdfeeders. According to many store owners, this would almost certainly put them out of business. The worst part of this is that identical legislation was tried in two towns in Connecticut on a trial basis and failed miserably. Not only did it not decrease human/bear interactions, but it caused tremendous angst for both small businesses and consumers alike.
One of the most perplexing anti-business bills of the year mustarguably be A-4852 which would restrict when an employer can call an employee after so-called “work hours.” It also comes with the customary fine for every “violation” adding another needless cost to business. This absurd piece of legislation has government inserting itself where it does not belong – in the operation of a business in situations that should be strictly between the employer and the employee.
There is a reason why New Jersey is consistently rated at or near the bottom in business environment year after year when compared with every state in the union. High taxes, suffocating regulations and overreaching legislation are the triad of hurt-inflicted on businesses in New Jersey. There is a way to fix this, but it will take two things: a change in attitude toward the business community and an iron political will.
A good start would be for elected officials to bear in mind what the great economist Dr. Thomas Sowell once asked rhetorically, “what is your fair share of what someone else worked for?” Once legislators partner with job creators and defer to their expertise in running and growing a business, then sensible, business-friendly legislation will become the norm once again in New Jersey.
