Numerous Bills Looking To Jumpstart Economy Clear Committee
TRENTON � Committed to getting the state�s economy moving again, the Senate today cleared several pieces of legislation out of the Budget and Appropriations Committee that will spur job creation and help small businesses grow in New Jersey.
�In the last week, we have seen media reports of businesses having to close and of small businesses not having any plans to hire workers. We simply cannot move along as if everything will just work itself out. We are already seeing the impact of the �Back To Work NJ� bills we passed earlier this year. Senator Madden’s bill that enhanced the existing Business Retention and Relocation Assistance Grant Program provided the incentives that helped keep Church & Dwight here in New Jersey. So we know that by working cooperatively we can have a positive impact,� said Senate President Steve Sweeney.
The following bills, many with bipartisan support, cleared the Senate Budget Committee:
S-3064 (Sarlo), which would authorize the Director of the Division of Investment to establish a program to invest a portion of the state pension funds into New Jersey businesses in the form of venture capital;
S-3066 (Weinberg), which would permit small, women owned or minority owned businesses located in designated regional centers to qualify for loans from the Economic Development Authority as if located in the designated urban center;
S-3072 (Madden/Buono), which would direct the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and Commission on Higher Education to promote the establishment of higher education and business partnerships;
S-3077 (Whelan), which would establish a Non-Profit Hospital Redevelopment and Growth Grant program;
S-3079 (Madden/Oroho), which would officially create the New Jersey Business Action Center and expand the services it provides;
S-3080 (Greenstein/Gordon/Madden), which would establish the �Back to Work NJ Program�;
S-3081 (Norcross/Whelan/Ruiz), which would establish a linked deposit program allowing the state Treasurer to deposit state funds at below market interest rates with certain banks;
S-3089 (Norcross), which would establish the �Fresh Food Access Act� and fund act with sales tax revenue from urban enterprise zones for five years;
S-3100 (Gordon), which would establish a Health Facility Reuse and Community Revitalization program.
�My colleagues in the Senate, from both sides of the aisle, have come together to support dozens of pro-small business, pro-work pieces of legislation. That kind of cooperation, the kind we hope to see from Governor Christie when all is said and done, is what the people of New Jersey need from their elected officials right now,� said Sweeney.
In the coming weeks, the Senate will be examining further measures that can help get New Jersey�s economy moving again.
