The Legislature passed a package of jobs-creation bills in its first session of the new year Thursday, including measures that will offer incentives for students to enter fields where there is a labor shortage.
Other bills provide on-the-job training for unemployed residents, expand the uses of the urban transit hub tax credit, create a state contract set-aside program for businesses owned by veterans, and offer incentives for businesses to hire former prison inmates.
Spurred by the recession, the Assembly passed most of the bills with varying degrees of support. Republican legislators criticized some of the measures as redundant to existing programs or carrying unknown costs, or as in the case of the ex-inmate measure, being a disservice by giving preferential treatment over other unemployed residents.
Nevertheless, a Back to Work NJ package of bills designed to spur jobs and economic growth passed the Democratic-controlled chamber with relative ease.
Some of the strongest criticism was directed at the measure to offer incentives for employers who hire former prisoners for certain projects. “This is not for heroes, not for any protected classes,” said Caroline Casagrande (R-Colts Neck), “but to give preferential treatment to prisoners.”
In addition, she derided the fact that ex-prisoners would be working on projects to benefit at-risk residents such as senior citizens.
However, the bill passed the Assembly 41-33. Assemblyman Gilbert Wilson (D-Camden) defended the bill, saying society gives second chances to athletes, entertainers, and politicians, and pointing out that “it is a lot cheaper to give people an opportunity to get a job than it is to spend $40,000 a year to keep them in jail.”
There were examples of bipartisanship as well. Jay Webber (R-Morris Plains) praised the unanimous adoption of the measure to provide for a 20-year carry-forward of some net losses of businesses under the gross income tax.
“The gross income tax is one of the greatest drags on the economy,” he said. “It discourages investment, entrepreneurship, and risk-taking.” He acknowledged that the state will forego some income as a result, but that the price is worth it.
The student loan redemption measure – designed to lure students into areas of job shortages – drew strong criticism from Republicans, including Webber, who called the proposal redundant, a drain on the Treasury, a risk because of its unknown price tag, and an unacceptable use of taxpayers’ dollars to benefit college-educated students who already have made their career choices.
“I appreciate that there is an intent here to jumpstart the economy,” he said, “but I think the real danger is that the body will confuse motion with progress. This is economic development that won’t have any real effect until 2013 at the earliest, long after, we hope, that the recession has passed. In the midst of the state’s budget crisis we have no idea how much this bill will cost.”
However, Lou Greenwald (D-Voorhees) defended the bill. Not only does it address areas of acute shortages, such as in the area of family practitioners, but it applies to those with associate degrees, not just those attending four-year colleges, and can help stem the migration of students to other states that offer similar programs. “This bill is not the answer to the jobs problem,” he said. “It is one of a package of bills.”
