On March 21, the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey (CCSNJ) Manager of Government Affairs, Hilary Chebra testified before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on the Governor's proposed FY2024 state budget.

In her testimony, Ms. Chebra thanked the Governor for proposing a budget with no new taxes or fees and for honoring the commitment to allow the 2.5 percent Corporate Business Tax (CBT) surcharge to expire at the end of 2023. 

The inclusion of the surcharge, imposed in 2018, was on top of the state’s already high CBT making the current rate the highest in the nation at 11.5 percent. While the CCSNJ is extremely pleased to see the surcharge expire at the end of the year, once the CBT returns to its normal rate of nine percent, New Jersey will still have the fourth highest CBT rate in the nation. As a result, the CCSNJ strongly encouraged the Legislature and Administration to consider further cuts to this tax, which will ensure New Jersey can remain competitive with its neighboring states.

Ms. Chebra went on to urge the Legislature to use the remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to fully or partially replenish the Unemployment Insurance (UI) fund. She explained that during the pandemic employers were forced to furlough or lay off workers through no fault of their own. As a result, the UI Fund was artificially skewed in a way that has led to unfair tax increases on employers, with more on the horizon. To date, 29 states have used federal dollars to shore up their UI trust fund or in some cases, to improve their UI system and the CCSNJ feels strongly this is a fair and appropriate use of funding on behalf of the employer community in New Jersey.



Additionally, Ms. Chebra argued that while the full $7.1 billion pension contribution and $2.35 billion deposit in the Debt Defeasance and Prevention Fund are fiscally responsible steps, the total spend of the FY2024 state budget is cause for concern. The $53.1 billion budget is the largest budget in state history and Ms. Chebra urged the Legislature to think creatively about how to how to address systemic fiscal issues, which will put the state on a more sustainable financial path.

As always, the CCSNJ looks forward to being actively engaged in the budget process as the Legislature works to approve a budget by June 30, 2023. Should you have any issues or requests to be considered in the context of the FY2024 state budget, please contact Hilary Chebra at hchebra@chambersnj.com.

To read the CCSNJ written testimony on the Governor's proposed FY2024 budget, click here.

To read the Budget in Brief, click here. 

On March 20, Governor Murphy signed a series of bills into law to support New Jersey small businesses. The CCSNJ was proud to support these bills as they will provide much needed assistance to businesses operating and expanding in the Garden State.

Governor Murphy signed the following three bills:

A-4748/S-3195 (Moriarty/Haider/Sampson/Madden) - Enhances the customer service experience with the New Jersey Business Action Center by collecting and disseminating customer assistance metrics.

A-4749/S-3204 (Coughlin/Swain/Timberlake/Zwicker/Turner) - Requires the New Jersey Business Action Center to produce a small business manual, which would be made publicly available and provide information and guidance on establishing, maintaining, and expanding a small business.

A-4753/S-3208 (Freiman/Park/Lampitt/Gopal/Zwicker) - Allows a 60-calendar day cure period for businesses to address and resolve certain violations.

Please reach out to Hilary Chebra, Manager, Government Affairs at hchebra@chambersnj.com if you have any questions.