“I think it is time to hit the reset button,” Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin told business leaders at a breakfast roundtable on July 23 presented by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and NJBIA. “There is a recognition that it is time to save money rather than find ways to generate new revenue.”
The new Assembly Speaker’s comments came three weeks after the Legislature and governor adopted a new state budget.
As the state moves forward, Coughlin said, there is a “common recognition” among Gov. Phil Murphy, Senate President Stephen Sweeney and himself “that we have to make New Jersey more affordable.”
He noted that Senate President Sweeney has impaneled experts to study ways to cut costs, and Gov. Murphy has impaneled experts to study reducing the ever-rising cost of health insurance for public employees.
“We are looking to get the economic house of the state of New Jersey in order,” Coughlin added. “We need to do the hard things, but they don’t happen in five months.”
Coughlin said the governor and the legislative leaders need to make fixes to parts of the state budget that were agreed upon late in the budget negotiations, including the establishment of a combined reporting policy, which requires companies under a single umbrella to be treated as a single entity for tax purposes. Members of both parties have said the complex policy must be crafted carefully to prevent unintended consequences.
“There is a recognition among all three legs of the stool that we want to get this right,” Coughlin said. “We want to get it done sooner rather than later. We want to make sure we get that done and you guys will be at the table.”
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