Kean and Kyrillos Voice Concern for Jobless, Urge Corzine to Support Bills to Aid Workers

From “Rendell Poaching Business From N.J.,” Newark Star-Ledger, July 6, 2008:

John Kaufman, chairman and CEO of International Battery, said he was looking to build a factory for lithium-ion batteries, which would create 240 jobs. With headquarters in northern Bergen County, he wanted to stay in New Jersey. “We got no support. We spoke to many state agencies. Nothing happened.” Kaufman said. “There's no support here. Everybody’s too busy.” As his frustrations mounted, Kaufman said, one of his investors told him to check out Pennsylvania. “The state of Pennsylvania was terrific,” he said. “The governor’s action team is terrific. They work with you.” International Battery opened its plant in Allentown, PA in October. Kaufman also moved his corporate headquarters there, and kept only a small engineering operation in New Jersey. “New Jersey’s a great state,” he said. “But when government feels it’s bigger than its industry, government will fail.”


Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean of Union County and Senator Joseph Kyrillos of Monmouth voiced their deep concern today after the state reported that New Jersey’s unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent in February from 7.3 percent in January. It is now higher than the national rate for the first time since October 2006, and is much higher than the rates posted recently by New York, Delaware and Pennsylvania. The Senators urged Governor Corzine to support long-delayed legislation that would help New Jersey create jobs and strengthen the state’s safety net for unemployed and underemployed workers.

“It’s heartbreaking to see neighbors suffer,” Kyrillos said. “Governor Corzine and the Democratic majority in the legislature need to act far more dramatically to bring jobs back to New Jersey by reversing years of policy decisions that have driven employers from the state.”

“Now is the time to safeguard the funds that provide the safety net for unemployed and underemployed workers,” Kean said. “It’s only fair that we meet the promise to provide benefits to workers who the state taxed to pay for those benefits.”

Republicans proposed smart reforms in May 2008 to make New Jersey more competitive with its neighbors including eliminating the job killing “throwout” rule, encouraging entrepreneurs by passing new rules on deducting net operating losses and killing a “single sales factor” rule for business taxes that made us uncompetitive with dozens of states in attracting employers.

Last year, Governor Corzine issued hyperpartisan attacks on the "Common-Sense Plan for an Affordable New Jersey" that included the changes listed above. By December 2008 he was trumpeting many of the same ideas as his own, and helped put them into law.

We urge the governor to push for passage of two more Republican initiatives:

S-281, The Economic Development Promotion Act, which will jump-start New Jersey's economic development efforts to create stable, high-paying jobs and increase the economic security of state residents.

SCR 60, Puts Unemployment Insurance Fund contributions in a locked box so laid-off workers are guaranteed that their taxes will go to pay the benefits they earned. Over $5 billion has been diverted from the funds during good economic times. On Monday Governor Corzine said New Jersey will borrow from the federal government to pay unemployment benefits because of the deferments.