The day two breakfast at the Walk to Washington usually is sparsely attended — and usually has a media panel discussing issues in the state.
This year, it was different.
Eight gubernatorial candidates participated in a forum discussing issues pertinent to the business community — and did so in front of a packed house.
Here are a few of the questions and a few of the answers (with answers edited for grammar and clarity).
Q: How do you view the N.J. economy right now?
Jon Bramnick: I serve on the Commerce Committee. I almost never see a pro-business piece of legislation.
Sean Spiller: We’ve got to focus on the pieces that are the biggest cost drivers in this state. Health care costs continue to rise. This is a space where I have led and understand that when we reduce those costs for employers and employees, saving billions of dollars, that’s more money that we can reinvest and certainly helps the bottom line for you and certainly for our residents.
Jack Ciattarelli: Under Gov. Ciattarelli, we will reestablish the Department of Commerce, and that’ll be responsible for being a point of communication for the business community.
Josh Gottheimer: Let’s be honest, it’s too damn expensive for our citizens. We’ve got to do more to make Jersey more affordable. And if we don’t get our taxes down, if we don’t cut property taxes and make it affordable, not just for businesses, but for workers – for their health care, for their childcare – how can we actually make our state grow. We can’t continue to be the number one out migration state in the country.
Bill Spadea: We need to get government out of the way. That’s the problem in New Jersey.
Q: You have won the election: What is your top initiative to grow jobs in the economy?
Steve Sweeney: Streamline the process to get projects through quicker.
Mikie Sherrill: We’re not going to make New Jersey more affordable if we don’t make housing here more affordable, we have got to push into that.
Ras Baraka: We have to invest in workforce immediately.
Spiller: You’ve got to be pro-business, but you’ve got to be pro-people too.
Bramnick: You have to change the image of New Jersey. When you speak to businessmen, people who are ready to leave this state, they don’t believe there’s hope in the future. You need a complete image makeover. I might even do a slogan: New Jersey a place where everybody makes money.
Q: Gov. Murphy issued an executive order establishing an economic council that would meet on a quarterly basis for the purpose of creating a regular dialog between government and business. If elected, would you support and continue the Economic Council created by this executive order?
Spiller: It is ridiculous that we talk about this as something so special. We should, of course, be talking to you folks.
Bramnick: That executive order tells you everything you need to know about New Jersey. You’ve got to have an executive order requiring you to meet with the business community. That is political nonsense.
Sweeney: It’s one of the most important things we need to do. I was hoping to do it before I left, and I really didn’t plan on leaving.
Sherrill: I think it’s great to have pathways for business to be in touch with the government, to hear from individuals. That’s how I’ve always done my best work.
Baraka: In Newark, we have what’s called the Newark Alliance, and as a result of that, we hired 3,000 residents. We raised the procurement level from 3% to much higher than that. We put tens of millions of dollars in the economy.
Q: What specific policies would you implement to support small businesses and entrepreneurs in New Jersey?
Sherrill: I think we need make sure that we’re creating programs for small businesses and for startups. Some of the federal legislation I have that I’d like to bring to Trenton helps to defray the cost of grocery store startups. Why? Because we’re trying to drive affordability. We’re trying to drive down the cost of food, and we’re also trying to drive grocery stores into some of the food deserts in our state. That kind of thing can help us build out houses and neighborhoods.
Ciattarelli: I think it should be easier set up small businesses. I think it should be easier for small businesses to aggregate their purchasing power to buy health insurance for their employees. I think the first $100,000 of business income on a small business should be tax free in the first five years of existence. I think that the first $100,000 of payroll for a small business should be exempt from employer payroll taxes.
Baraka: We have to empower the chambers so they can do the back-office paperwork for all the small businesses.
Spadea: If we’re going have any new departments in government, there’s only one we need: NJ DOGE.
