Sweeney Responds to NJBIA Report

TRENTON – Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland) issued the following statement in response to the New Jersey Business and Industry Association’s “Indicators of Innovation” report.

“NJBIA’s report underscores what we already know. High taxes make New Jersey less affordable and our investments in higher education and research and development lags behind comparable states in the region, like Massachusetts and New York.

“We have a responsibility to the people of New Jersey to make our state more affordable, to lower the tax burden on our families and to invest in the next generation of innovators through education and technology. We can’t make the investments we need, however, until we address the long-term fiscal crisis, specifically the high pension and benefit costs that crowd out critical investment. We need to make smart investments, we need to control taxes and we need do it now, if we are going to get New Jersey back on track. If we make the difficult but necessary decisions today, we can make New Jersey a leader for generations to come.”