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| A panel of top legislators spoke at NAIOP New Jersey's Public Policy Symposium. The program was co-moderated by Jeffrey Milanaik (left), NAIOP New Jersey president and president of Heller Industrial Parks, and NAIOP New Jersey trustee Richard Cureton (right) of Whitesell Construction Co. (Second) Left to right are: Stephen Sweeney, Senate President; Sheila Oliver, Assembly Speaker; Tom Kean, Jr., Senate Minority Leader; and Alex DeCroce, Assembly Minority Leader.
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Release Date: Friday, March 05, 2010
Media Contact: Evelyn Weiss Francisco (201) 796-7788
NAIOP New Jersey Symposium: Top Legislators Striving for Bipartisanship
A New Administration in Trenton with a New Attitude Seen as Paving the Way for an Economic Rebound
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., March 5, 2010 - It's a new day in Trenton, with new people in key roles, and top legislators say they are on the same page in terms of what needs to be accomplished to right the ship of state. And that has to be accomplished without "politics as usual," concurred a panel of top legislators at NAIOP New Jersey's Public Policy Symposium. The program was co-moderated by Jeffrey Milanaik, NAIOP New Jersey president and president of Heller Industrial Parks, and NAIOP New Jersey trustee Richard Cureton of Whitesell Construction Co.
"The political landscape has indeed changed," said Milanaik, referring to the new administration of Gov. Chris Christie and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. "Commercial real estate plays a key role in economic development, and NAIOP New Jersey is a ready and willing partner in helping to turn the state around."
"I believe that we finally have a governor who understands job creation," said state Senate minority leader Tom Kean, Jr. "There will be bumps in the road, of course" added Assembly minority leader Alex DeCroce. "But with hard work, we can and will lead New Jersey on the road to prosperity."
"We lost our way," said Sen. Stephen Sweeney, the Senate's president, referring to the combination of high taxes, budget woes, and the perception of an anti-business climate in the state. "We need to consolidate government because there is far too much waste. It is probably going to be painful, and some great programs will have to be cut. But I believe that we will see a lot of cooperation in the legislature between Republicans and Democrats because the bottom line is that we need to make New Jersey more business-friendly if we are going to have full recovery."
"The new governor understands the importance of economic development," Kean reiterated. "But we need a real economic growth strategy, including making the state more affordable."
That strategy should include working with all state departments and agencies to get everyone on the same page, said DeCroce. In particular, "we have to concentrate on the Department of Environmental Protection, take a good, hard look on how the department operates and its impact on development," he said, noting that the recently implemented Licensed Site Remediation Professional program "is a start."
"DCA can be a bane as well," added Assembly speaker Sheila Oliver, a reference to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. And in any case, "we, as legislators, will work with NAIOP New Jersey and other organizations to help New Jersey regain its economic health."
Turning around New Jersey's reputation as being anti-business was another key point on which the legislators agreed. "We have all of these ideas on the table, but we have to make our words count," Sweeney said. "Talk is cheap. We have to demonstrate our commitment through our actions."
"My goal is to make New Jersey an innovation center and not just of the region or the country but of the globe," Kean said. "But in order to accomplish that goal, we have to create a predictable process for getting things done. We have to create a speedy regulatory process. We need to expand the urban transit hub credit. We need a renewed focus on our ports, our cities, our infrastructure. We have a real opportunity right now to turn the corner, to get tangible results."
Speaker Oliver agreed on the goal of making the state a global innovation center. "Our state is asset-rich," she said, noting New Jersey's highly educated workforce, top-flight educational system, transportation network and diverse geographic and cultural assets.
There remain many issues to resolve, panelists agreed, not the least of which is COAH and its impact and cost of tying affordable housing to commercial development. And while the transportation system is extensive, it needs work including ports that face competitive pressures. The legislators reiterated that regulatory issues continue to be a stumbling block, not the least of which is the way key state agencies fail to interact. Referring to those various state agencies as "fiefdoms," Oliver called on Gov. Christie to, "order the agencies to share information and work together."
The panelists collectively asserted that "politics as usual" has no place in the changing economic landscape. "The problems we face are too difficult for us to play 'Republican' and 'Democrat' with these issues," Sweeney concluded.
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