M E M O R A N D U M

TO:                       Members of the New Jersey Senate 

FROM:                 Hilary Chebra, Manager, Government Affairs, CCSNJ

RE:                       Support of:

• S-355 (Gopal/Greenstein)
• S-2249 (Singleton/Oroho)
• SJR-22 (Pou)

Oppose: 

• S-315 (Vitale/Codey) 

The Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey (CCSNJ) would like to voice our support for the following legislation being considered today:

• S-355 (Gopal/Greenstein) - Makes permanent temporary enactment allowing certain alcoholic beverage retailers to sell and deliver alcoholic beverages and mixed drinks; establishes certain sale and delivery privileges for alcoholic beverage manufacturers.
• S-2249 (Singleton/Oroho) - Revises number of qualified disabled veterans' businesses required to designate set-aside contract from three to two.
• SJR-22 (Pou) - Designates second week of June of each year as "Kids Entrepreneurship Awareness Week."

These bills before you take actions to ensure that New Jersey is a better place to do business for all residents. By making permanent some of the accommodations put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, as S-355 (Gopal/Greenstein) does, businesses will be able to provide customers the services they have grown accustomed to and enjoy. The bill makes permanent the ability for licensed establishments to continue to offer to-go cocktails, which remain a popular covid-19 accommodation and will help the hard-hit restaurant industry continue to recover. 

Also, the CCSNJ is proud to support S-2249 (Singleton/Oroho). This bill will help more disabled veterans’ businesses contract with the state by amending the number of qualified disabled veterans' businesses required to set aside a contract from three businesses to two. It is imperative that New Jersey recognize the sacrifices of veterans by doing all it can support veteran-owned businesses.

Additionally, recognizing young entrepreneurs with the establishment of "Kids Entrepreneurship Awareness Week." which SJR-22 (Pou) will do, will continue to make New Jersey a leader in fostering youth to explore all possible careers afforded to them that will contribute to New Jersey’s economic growth.

However, the CCSNJ would like to respectfully oppose S-315 (Vitale/Codey). The CCSNJ is concerned that this law is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA") insofar as it intrudes on federal governance of the labor-management relationship. Under federal labor law, an employer who takes over at an existing location where the employees are unionized has the right to set its initial terms and conditions of employment and hire who they want, and they are not required to hire everyone. This law will interfere with a business’s decisions regarding their employees.

Thank you for the opportunity to share our positions on the above measures.