“It is disappointing as it is puzzling that Governor Murphy vetoed a bill that provided a practical opportunity to make state government more efficient and responsive to business in New Jersey.

“This bipartisan legislation arrived on his desk with near-unanimous support from the Legislature. The GEARR Commission would have been coordinated by his own chief innovation officer, with five of the nine commission members coming from his administration. And the governor, himself, has said he is committed to making government work more efficiently. Yet, this commonsense bill was still denied.

“In NJBIA’s 2021 Business Outlook Survey, 90% of business owners said New Jersey had not made progress easing regulatory burdens over the past year, while 63% said New Jersey was worse than other states when it comes to the cost of regulatory compliance. These were underscored by the hundreds of comments we received from respondents lamenting the regulatory challenges they face in New Jersey.

“The GEARR Commission was also a priority of the Legislature’s bipartisan Manufacturing Caucus. While manufacturing is the fifth largest industry in the state, employing 5.4% of the civilian labor force, it has lost about 3% of its jobs and 10% of its firms over the past decade, according to Focus NJ. A new commission to look at overregulation could have helped change that trend.

“Additionally, Governor Murphy claims to prioritize innovation to stimulate the New Jersey economy. Yet early-stage companies often struggle with a complex system of regulations. This commission could have supported New Jersey’s innovative startups.

“The GEARR Commission would have simply provided an avenue to evaluate how the economic benefits of regulations compare to any onerous burdens. But with his veto, the governor appears to admit that he does not see regulatory burdens as an issue in New Jersey and is not interested in starting that conversation with our job creators. And that is a great disappointment.”