Yesterday in Trenton, Assembly Democrats passed a bill (A5687) out of the Labor Committee that should make your blood boil. It’s called the “Next New Jersey Manufacturing Program.” Sounds good, right? It’s not.
This bill is a lie wrapped in a buzzword.
Assemblyman Lou Greenwald wants you to believe this is about boosting manufacturing in New Jersey. But what it actually does is reserve the first $100 million in tax credits for “clean energy product manufacturers” — meaning this isn’t about general manufacturing at all. It’s about propping up offshore wind, plain and simple.
Let me remind you:
- Ørsted, the offshore wind giant, abandoned its two massive projects in New Jersey late last year, walking away with massive subsidies and leaving the public with nothing.
- The state has already spent nearly $1 billion on infrastructure and tax breaks to attract wind companies. What do we have to show for it? Failed contracts and lost jobs.
And now Democrats want to throw another $100 million at this same disaster — under the phony banner of “manufacturing.”
It’s dishonest. It’s manipulative. And it’s insulting.
But that’s not the only problem. This bill:
- Threatens CEOs with perjury charges if they make any misstatement on their application — even honest mistakes.
- Forces companies to meet political affirmative action mandates just to be eligible.
- And it takes money from the Aspire Program, another tax credit fund that isn’t working, and throws it into this mess — instead of delivering broad relief to New Jersey businesses.
This is what happens when economic policy is driven by politics, not common sense.
If we really wanted to help New Jersey manufacturing, we’d start with the obvious:
END the corporate business tax surcharge that is driving companies out of the state and crushing job growth.
Instead, Trenton Democrats are scrambling to look like they’re doing something — anything — by creating a new program they can slap a press release on, even if it’s just another way to reward their preferred industries and punish anyone who doesn’t play by their rules.
They want control. They want headlines. And they want to keep funding the green energy fantasy no matter how many times it fails.
New Jersey deserves better than this smoke-and-mirrors politics.
This bill isn’t about manufacturing. It’s about money. Offshore wind failed — and now they want us to pay for it. Again.
Watch my takedown of the bill in committee here: https://youtu.be/
I’m not buying it. And you shouldn’t either.
Need to see it yourself? Look at the attached screenshot below read the full bill here: https://www.njleg.state.
