An initiative to better understand why businesses leave New Jersey was approved today by the Senate Labor Committee.
While there is plenty of anecdotal information about why businesses leave, S-2356 (Bucco, R-25) would provide some reliable data on which to base policy recommendations. NJBIA supports the bill.
Under the bill, the NJ Department of Labor would send out surveys to companies that close or leave the state and ask for their specific reasons for ending business here. The survey will include questions about taxes, workforce quality and the cost of conducting business, as well as recent business interaction with government on their problems. A yearly report will be provided to the Governor and the Legislature.
“Developing this level of data will help focus on what we can do to make New Jersey more attractive before businesses decide to leave,” said Mike Wallace, NJBIA director of Employment, Labor and Federal Affairsvice president of Government Affairs. “If employers are confident about the direction New Jersey’s business climate is headed, they will be much more likely to create jobs and invest in their operations. And that kind of economic activity will help the whole state.”
NJBIA’s outmigration study highlighted the problem of income leaving the state and the impact it has on our economy. The analysis showed nearly more than $25 billion in net adjusted gross income left the state over the last 12 years.
