Rik Mehta Blasts Murphy, Malinowski for their anti-Business Agendas, Vows to Continue Fighting for Small Businesses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chester, NJ – In response to Governor Murphy’s overreaching eviction moratoriums and other policies hurting small business owners, former U.S. Senate Republican nominee and 2022 U.S. Congressional candidate Rik Mehta released the following statement calling for the passage of the bipartisan sponsored Fair Franchising Act, A2682 and to end crushing policies that have created a workforce shortage on Main Street.

“Small business owners have been squeezed by the unfair practices of two goliaths – Murphy’s overreaching administration and his crony, multibillion-dollar corporate friends profiteering off the pandemic”, stated Mehta, In 2020 alone, 45 out of the 50 biggest U.S. companies turned a profit while more than 33% of New Jersey small businesses shuttered. Statistically, Murphy’s unnecessary lockdown measures impacted the Latin- and African-American business communities the hardest, resulting in a higher business closure rate in majority-minority neighborhoods. “While business owners are struggling to make ends meet the price of doing business keeps rising coupled with an avoidable workforce shortage that has crushed their American dream.”

In additional to passage of A2682, Mehta called for the following immediate actions that would provide instant relief to struggling small business owners:

• Termination of New Jersey’s participation in many costly, redundant federal programs, such as the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FDUC) program and the Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation (MEUC) program.
• Creating incentives for returning to the workplace, such as a lump sum bonus paid out to former program recipients 180 days after work force reentry.

Mehta said, “New Jersey is known for electing do-nothing politicians both in Trenton and in Washington that spent most of 2020 either profiteering off the pandemic or turning a blind-eye to damage being done to their local small businesses. We need leaders to step up and set course for a successful recovery, and that can only be done by creating an economic environment that puts people back to work”