| New Jersey Working Families State Director Sue Altman issued the following statement in response to today’s scheduled Senate committee hearing on state tax incentive programs:
Today’s sham hearing is stacked with supporters and beneficiaries of the Economic Opportunity Act and is meant to whitewash a program riddled with corruption and abuse that has launched multiple investigations.
After hearing from some of the nation’s top experts in tax policy earlier this month that New Jersey’s tax incentive system has failed, the Senate committee is now intent on providing cover for a program that rewarded politically connected corporations with billions of dollars in promised tax credits.
It’s amazing that companies like Subaru — which benefited from special giveaways tucked into the Economic Opportunity Act by Phil Norcross’ law firm and the Christie administration — would have the gall to testify on behalf of a such a corrupt and ineffective law.
A recent report by New Jersey Policy Perspective found that taxpayers subsidized Subaru to the tune of nearly $200,000 a job. That’s not economic development. It’s highway robbery against New Jersey taxpayers.
If this committee were serious about reforms, it would have invited a balanced list of participants and highlighted proposals to reform the program – especially because the previous hearing raised questions over whether incentives work at all.
And it would get behind a series of commonsense reforms that include caps on awards, increased scrutiny of tax credit recipients, strong labor protections and requirements on local hiring. |
