New Jersey lawmakers move closer to establishing commission to look at burdensome regulations

(The Center Square) – New Jersey lawmakers are looking to take the scissors to what many consider to be the state’s excessive red tape.

The Senate State Government, Watering Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee on Thursday advanced a bill that would establish a commission to study New Jersey’s rules and regulations and the effects they have on the economy.

The bipartisan bill calls for a nine-member commission with members from the Legislature and the governor’s office. The commission would glean information from state departments on their duties and regulations, according to the legislation. The public would also be asked to give public and written comments.

“The plethora of red tape and bureaucracy has been suffocating New Jersey’s economy for too long, and conditions deteriorate more with every passing year,” said Republican Sen. Steve Oroho, one of the bill’s sponsors. “The goal for creating this commission is to begin unraveling rules, regs and edicts that have a negative impact on the fiscal environment in the state.”

The regulatory burdens are hurting New Jersey’s business climate, said Christopher Emigholz, vice president for government affairs for the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, which included the recommendation in the NJBIA’s Indicators of Innovation report. The commission would make state government “more responsive to its residents, more accessible to people and small businesses that do not always have the opportunity to impact government, and more transparent to all taxpayers,” Emigholz said.

“Over-regulation has also been oft-cited by our manufacturers in New Jersey, and this issue has been embraced by the Legislature’s bipartisan and bicameral Manufacturing Caucus,” Emigholz said in his testimony. “Businesses and manufacturers need an improved tax climate, innovation ecosystem, workforce development pipeline, infrastructure and regulatory environment, and reducing the regulatory burden is the only item of those five components to economic growth that does not cost the government anything.”

Oroho echoed Emigholz’s comments in a statement.

“The overwhelming glut of onerous laws and rules are responsible for our State’s reputation as unfriendly to business,” Oroho said. “If we can target and eliminate the most damaging examples of counter-productive bureaucratic overreach, we can rebuild our competitive edge and restore New Jersey’s position as an economic powerhouse.”

The commission would create an annual report but their findings will only be advisory, according to the legislation.

The Assembly passed the bill in November. It passed the committee unanimously and now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

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