TO:                      Members of the New Jersey General Assembly 

FROM:                Hilary Chebra, Manager, Government Affairs CCSNJ

RE:                       Support of A-5939 (Pintor Marin)                                     

DATE:                  June 24, 2021

The Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey appreciates the opportunity to share our support of A-5939 (Pintor Marin), which revises the "New Jersey Economic Recovery Act of 2020".

The CCSNJ was grateful for the legislature’s recognition of the need for incentives in our State with the passage of the “New Jersey Economic Recovery Act of 2020" A-4/S-3295 (Pintor Marin/Ruiz).  We commend the legislature’s acknowledgment that with the change in operations of the workplace due to the pandemic, adjustments were needed to ensure the success of the programs created in the law.

The CCSNJ applauds the $350 million in tax credits, which were originally allocated for the New Jersey Aspire Program and the Emerge Program, for qualified offshore wind projects. New Jersey is well positioned to become a national leader in the offshore with industry. It is vitally important that this new industry can establish itself in the state swiftly.  The offshore wind industry is also critically important to the continued success of the South Jersey Region as the new industry would diversify the Atlantic County economy, one that continues to be driven by gaming and hospitality, which was especially hard hit by the COVID—19 pandemic.

The CCSNJ appreciates the bill’s expansion of the definition of “incentive area” to include aviation and port districts in the New Jersey Aspire Program as well as the revision in the Main Street Recovery Finance Program of the definition of “microbusiness” to include businesses with less than $1.5 million in annual gross revenue, as opposed to $1 million. This will give more small businesses the opportunity to participate in this program and recover from the impact f the pandemic.

 The CCSNJ commends the modification of the requirements for how often workers must be to remain physically present in the office from 80 percent of their time to 60 percent. The operations of the workplace for businesses were vastly changed by the pandemic and as businesses re-evaluate what is best for their workforce, this bill takes a sensible approach to the reality of operations in a post-pandemic workplace.

The need for incentives in our State is undeniable, and particularly needed for the economic recovery of the state following the fiscal impact of the pandemic. These revisions to the "New Jersey Economic Recovery Act of 2020" will help to ensure a healthy economic recovery for the state.

 The CCSNJ appreciates the opportunity to share our support for A-5939 (Pintor Marin).