Assembly Commerce Committee Chair Urges Signing of Back to Work NJ Bill Package
Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee Chair Albert Coutinho today called on Governor Christie to put aside pageantry and focus on signing the roughly 30 bills that the Legislature sent to him nearly a month ago as part of its “Back to Work NJ” economic stimulus and job creation package.
“While the Governor is hobnobbing with CEO’s and FOX News anchors he should be mindful of the fact that the reason many of these CEO’s are still in New Jersey is because of the successful Democratic initiatives implemented over the last few years. The Economic Stimulus Act of 2009 and the expansion of the Business Retention and Reallocation Assistance Program all helped create incentives for businesses to relocate to or expand their operations in New Jersey.
“It’s particularly important that we give small businesses and start-up companies the tools to establish and flourish in New Jersey. From 1993 to 2009, alone, two-thirds of the new jobs created in the U.S. came from small businesses.
“Perhaps all the talking the Governor is doing today will pay dividends down the road, but that brings little comfort to the hundreds of thousands of residents currently unemployed in New Jersey. Hopefully when he gets back today, he’ll take decisive action on our bill package so we can begin firing up our economic engines,” said Coutinho (D-Essex).