on February 1; Environmental Commissioner Bradley Campbell on March 15; and Labor Commissioner Tom Carver and Deputy Commissioners A. J. Sabath and Janet Zatz on April 1.

Cammarano said Codey’s first priority when he became the State’s chief executive in November was to restore order and ethics. The Governor’s Office had been rattled by multiple investigations and scandals. After two and a half months on the job, Cammarano said he came to the conclusion: "Hey, you know what, this job’s not that bad." But, he added jokingly: "One of the toughest jobs (I have) is negotiating between the Senate President and the Governor. They don’t always agree." (As Acting Governor, Codey also serves as Senate President.)

While acknowledging that Codey and the business community may disagree on issues like the minimum wage—Codey championed a recently enacted 39 percent minimum wage hike—Cammarano said healthcare costs and economic development are high priorities for Codey, and he believes the Administration and the business community can work together on them.

At the environmental briefing, Campbell assured participants that despite a growing number of environmental regulations, the regulatory burden on employers can be reduced.

As evidence, he pointed to a shrinking backlog of permit applications. Campbell said that when he was appointed Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) chief three years ago, hundreds of permit decisions were pending in backlogs that had stretched on for years. Since then, he said, the backlog has been cut dramatically, reducing pending water-allocation permits by two-thirds, air permits by 80 percent, operating permits by 80 percent, and pollution-discharge permits by two-thirds. DEP was able to achieve this while implementing 75 new programs and mandates from the State Legislature and despite having a staff that is 20 percent smaller than it was in 1994. Campbell said his top goal over the next year is to leave a department that can "reasonably be described as backlog free."

Campbell said the DEP is implementing new procedures to make it easier for businesses to comply, such as shorter forms and easier structures so employers can spend less time on paperwork and greater use of general permits. He credited NJBIA’s "15 Good Ideas," submitted to the new Administration in 2002, as providing the underpinning for many of the changes.

At the labor briefing, Carver said the role of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development is not so much to regulate the way businesses provide jobs as to work with the business community to look for ways to create new jobs.

"We have to be a driving force in working with you," Carver said. "It’s a business agency. Our job is to put people to work, keep them working, and keep our economy going."

Carver stressed the Department’s role in providing job training programs for new and existing workers. For instance, the Customized Training program has provided $66 million in grants that have provided job training and retraining for 116,000 people who already had jobs, but needed new skills to keep them competitive.

Carver noted that the effort is paying off, with a record 4 million people employed in New Jersey and a low unemployment rate.