Oliver on Assembly Republican Policy Committee Meeting

(Trenton) - Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver (D-Essex) issued the following statement on the Assembly Republican Policy Committee's Wednesday business roundtable discussion:

"Today's Assembly Republican business roundtable has given me the strangest sense of deja vu.

"It was Democrats who, in October, convened a series of blue ribbon panels with legislators, business and industry leaders and members of the public to find ways to increase job creation and jumpstart New Jersey's economy.

"From those discussions, Democrats sponsored the Back To Work NJ 30-bill job creation and economic stimulus package this past December.

"When Gov. Christie used his veto pen to gut the bill package, refusing to sign measures that would help developers receive low-interest EDA loans (A-2215); attract economic development projects to the state (A-3353); create a loan redemption program for students entering fields with labor shortages (A-3513); provide on-the-job training for out-of-work residents (A-3584); expand the state's film tax credit (S-690); help urban women and minority owned businesses qualify for EDA loans (S-1216); expand the gross income tax exclusion for pension, annuities and other sources of senior income (S-2345); instruct the EDA and the Commission on Higher Education to create higher education/business partnerships (S-2398); and provide tax credits for emerging technology businesses (A-2454), it was Democrats who fought tooth and nail to override those vetoes.

"Assembly Republicans chose instead to march in lock step with their governor and let these job creating, economy stimulating bills die.

"We Democrats invested a tremendous amount of time and effort to ensure that the bill package we put forth would create jobs, stimulate the economy and have the support of the state's business community.

"For the Assembly Republicans who have had a late summer deathbed conversation on the topics of job creation and the economy, I and hundreds of thousands of out of work New Jerseyans can only ask, 'Where were you in March?'"