more affordable. They also highlighted
their backgrounds as private-sector business professionals.
(Forrester is the founder of BeneCard Services, Inc.
and Corzine was chairman of Goldman-Sachs prior to becoming
a US Senator.)
The event was sponsored by Bank of America and featured
welcoming addresses by Ann Limberg, president of Bank
of America New
Jersey; Michael Karlovich of ConocoPhillips Bayway
Refinery and the State ELC Chair; Douglas Troast, CEO
of Troast Construction Company and chairman of NEW JOBS
PAC, the business community’s political action
committee; and NJBIA President Philip Kirschner. ELCs
are the grassroots affiliate of NJBIA.
But the main attraction was the Corzine-Forrester match-up.
Speaking first, Forrester said he wanted to change the
antibusiness policies that were forcing employers to
leave the State. He pointed to a survey indicating that
three quarters of businesses in New Jersey believe State
government is hostile to employers. He noted that New
Jersey ranked 41st in the nation in the rate of new
job growth. While private sector job growth was half
the national average, he said, government employment
in New Jersey grew at four times the national average.
“Businesses are leaving,” Forrester said.
“They are turning out the lights because they
are being crushed by over-regulation and over-taxation.
I want to change that.”
Corzine said that as Governor, he would empower entrepreneurs,
create good-paying jobs and lay the groundwork for a
bright economic future. He pointed to business friendly
legislation he has fought for in Washington, including
incentives for repatriating offshore capital, terrorism
insurance, repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax, and
expanding transportation dollars for the State. “Our
State’s most serious financial challenges—whether
rebuilding our schools, improving our transportation
network, or providing tax relief—will only be
met if we sustain a strong and expanding State economy,”
Corzine said.
On healthcare, Corzine said the rising cost of healthcare
“is undermining the well-being and strength of
our businesses, as many of you know and have told me,
draining the fiscal capacity of governments, and creating
a desperate anxiety among our fellow citizens.”
Reducing the number of the uninsured is key to controlling
costs. He said his plan would make insurance accessible
to 700,000 New Jerseyans who do not have coverage now.
He added that his small business health insurance proposal
was based in part on NJBIA’s health insurance
reform plan, particularly for reforming mandates.
Forrester called for tort reform, health savings accounts
and new alternatives to help businesses provide healthcare
for their employees. He pledged to end what he called
lawsuit abuse, saying healthcare costs will never be
brought down to a reasonable level without it. “We
cannot provide access to healthcare professionals any
longer in New Jersey unless we have tort reform…”
he said. “We have created an atmosphere in which
we have businesses that cannot conduct themselves in
even the most basic way. We need tort reform.”
On the budget, both candidates pledged to cut spending
and increase property tax relief without raising taxes.
Forrester said he would employ zero-based budgeting
and standardized procurement policies. He said he would
enact a 40 percent tax credit to help reduce the cost
of property taxes and noted that he has taken a no-new-taxes
pledge. “It is time that we take our rightful
place between our two great neighbors of New York and
Pennsylvania,” Forrester said. “But we cannot
do that until we bring State spending under control
and put the good business practices in place.”
Corzine said that economic growth is the key to balancing
the State budget and called for replacing the current
policy of “tax, borrow and spend” with “invest,
grow and prosper.” “After 30 years of business
experience, I think I’ve learned that working
on growing the pie is a heck of a lot more fun than
fighting about how you divide it,” Corzine said.
“The former is a productive dynamic exercise.
The latter is static and often destructive.” He
called for outcome-based budgeting, where programs are
retained based on their effectiveness, and for capital
budgeting and multi-year financial plans. He also pledged
to reduce political employees and public relations budgets,
institute bulk purchasing practices in State procurement,
and upgrade technology. His property tax plan would
increase tax rebates by 10 percent a year over four
years.
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