Declaring "change has arrived," Chris Christie was sworn in as New Jersey's 55th Governor, and Kim Guadagno took the oath of office to become the State's first ever Lt. Governor on January 19. On his first full day in office, Christie immediately fulfilled a key campaign promise by signing three sweeping executive orders suspending virtually all new or proposed government regulations for 90 days and setting up a formal review of New Jersey's regulatory structure. NJBIA applauds his bold action.

Rarely in New Jersey's history have we faced the challenges we face today," Christie said in his inaugural speech. "There is fear and uncertainty. But fear and uncertainty are not necessary and do not have to be permanent. We have the tools for a brighter future, if we change direction. To the people of New Jersey, I say this: you voted for change. And today, change has arrived."

The Christie Administration has made reining in government overregulation a top priority. Even before taking office, Christie picked Guadagno to head up the Red Tape Review Group to identify regulations that hurt our economy and decide what should be done about them. NJBIA has already met with the Review Group and shared the negative experiences of many member companies in dealing with New Jersey's government bureaucracy. NJBIA hosted a meeting of the task force in December and looks forward to working with the administration in improving New Jersey's regulatory system.

Executive Order 1 suspends most new or proposed regulations (those impacting public safety and health, for instance, are exempt) until April 18. Executive Order 2 establishes several provisions for providing regulatory relief in both the near future and long term. Specifically, agencies would be required to apply "time-of-decision" rules where the agency processes permit applications according to the regulations and standards in effect when the application was filed. It also requires extensive use of cost-benefit analysis and scientific and economic research to determine whether the regulations are necessary and cost effective; requires a process for granting waivers when rules are unduly burdensome or conflict with other State rules; and requires justification for every instance in which a rule, regulation or standard exceeds federal law. Finally, Executive Order 3 formally establishes the Red Tape Review Group to reform New Jersey's regulatory system. It will be headed by Guadagno and consists of the Governor's counsel, the commissioners of Environmental Protection and Community Affairs, and the chairs and ranking minority members of the Senate and Assembly committees with responsibility for regulatory oversight.

NJBIA has long warned of the negative economic impact overregulation has on New Jersey's economy. In recent years, environmental regulations and workplace mandates have increased at alarming rates, diverting economic resources away from job creation and growth to feed the increasing demands of government bureaucracy. NJBIA strongly supports the Governor's comprehensive effort to review the necessity and effectiveness of regulations as a way of improving our business climate. For more information, contact Art Maurice.

2. Legislative Leaders Create New Committees

Senate and Assembly leaders created new committees to tackle regulatory oversight and issues surrounding Atlantic City casinos as they named committee chairs for the new legislative session. NJBIA supports these actions.

The Assembly created the Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee while the Senate formed the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee and the State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee. View the complete list of Senate Committees and their members, as well as the Assembly Committees.

3. Corzine Acts on Lame-Duck Bills

Before leaving office, Governor Jon Corzine acted on a host of bills passed in the lame-duck session.

Corzine signed the NJBIA-backed Permit Extension Act - A-4347 (Greenwald, Malone)/S-3137 (Sarlo) - which extends until December 31, 2012 any permit approval expiring after January 1, 2007. Without the bill, development projects would have to go through the expensive and time-consuming permit process all over again.

He also signed A-795 (Gusciora, Fisher), which directs the State's environmental commissioner to create a list of environmentally responsible businesses. NJBIA supported that bill as well. Corzine also signed two bills expanding inflated union-level prevailing wage that NJBIA opposed: A-4293, (DeAngelo, Egan)/S-3028 (Buono, Baroni), which extends prevailing wage to any energy efficiency projects that receive State financial assistance; and A-4268 (Cryan), which extends it to large maintenance-related projects in public buildings.

Corzine also pocket vetoed an expansion of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, A-832 (Chivukula, Schaer)/S-1793 (Sarlo, Girgenti), which would have made it easier for small businesses to challenge State regulations, and A-4345 (Green, Scalera)/S-2985 (Sarlo, Oroho), which would have extended for a year the deadline for updating Water Quality Management Plans - a move that could literally halt all development in certain areas of the State.

4. DiRocco Joins NJBIA Government Affairs Staff

Attorney Dominick DiRocco of Wall will join NJBIA's Government Affairs Staff as assistant vice president for employment and labor policy on January 25.

DiRocco will be responsible for labor-related legislation dealing with workplace mandates, workers' compensation, and related issues. For the past three years, DiRocco served as director of government affairs for the NJ Association of Counties, representing the collective interests of county governments statewide before state and federal legislative and regulatory bodies. He has also served as legislative counsel for the NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness and deputy attorney general in the NJ Department of Law and Public Safety. He can be contacted at ndirocco@njbia.org.

5. Meet the Decision Makers: NJ's Senate President and Assembly Speaker, Feb. 19

NJBIA has invited NJ's two most powerful legislative leaders, Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, to speak with NJBIA members at this special breakfast event, Friday, February 19 at the Forsgate Country Club in Monroe Township. Register online now.