Bill Text: NJ A109 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes "Business Tax and Incentive Task Force."
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Commerce, Economic Development and Agriculture Committee [A109 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A109-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DONALD A. GUARDIAN
District 2 (Atlantic)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes "Business Tax and Incentive Task Force."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act establishing a task force to conduct a comparative study of state tax policy impacts upon business expansion, investment and development and state tax incentives offered by states to encourage business expansion, capital investment and economic development, and the impacts thereof upon state economic growth, supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1 a. There is established a task force, in but not of the Department of the Treasury, to be known as the "Business Tax and Incentive Task Force." The purpose of the task force shall be to study, compare, and evaluate state tax policy impacts upon business expansion, investment and development and economic development tax incentives offered by state governments throughout the nation, to clarify the type, scale, and effectiveness of state tax policy and tax incentives, and their related tax rate structures, in comparison to this State, and to develop recommendations relating to, the effectiveness of economic development tax incentives and tax policy in creating new employment opportunities, fostering capital investment, and growing the economy in this State.
b. The task force shall be comprised of nine members, five of whom shall be appointed by the Governor, one of whom shall be appointed by the President of the Senate, one of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly, one of whom shall be appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate, and one of whom shall be appointment by the Minority Leader of the General Assembly. Of the five members to be appointed by the Governor, one shall be an individual from among a list of nominees provided by the Executive Director of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority who are familiar with the programs administered by the authority, one shall be an individual from among a list of nominees provided by the State Treasurer who have expertise and experience in public policy analysis of state business tax incentives and business tax rates, one shall be an individual among a list of nominees provided by the New Jersey Business and Industry Association who are selected from among individuals who are senior staff members or board members of the association familiar with government legislative and regulatory affairs or individuals recognized by the association as having experience with state taxes and business retention and relocation issues, and one shall be an individual from a list of nominees provided by the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce who are selected from among individuals who are senior staff members of the chamber or are members of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce or individuals recognized by the board as having experience with state taxes and business retention and relocation issues. Vacancies in the membership of the task force shall be filled in the same manner provided for the original appointments.
c. The task force shall organize as soon as practicable, but no later than the 60th day after the appointment of a majority of its members. The task force shall elect a chairperson from among its members and appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the task force.
d. The task force may meet at the call of its chairperson and hold hearings at the times and in the places it deems necessary and appropriate to fulfill its charge. The task force shall be entitled to call to its assistance, and avail itself of the services of, the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available for its purposes.
e. The members of the task force shall serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for traveling and other miscellaneous expenses necessary to perform their duties, within the limits of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the task force for its purposes.
2. It shall be the duty of the task force to:
a. study, compare, and evaluate New Jersey and other states' tax policies, tax rate structures and other features of states' tax systems impacting business expansion, investment and development, chiefly in comparison to this State as a competitive advantage or disadvantage for in-state business growth and of changes that will improve New Jersey's business climate;
b. study and assess the effectiveness of New Jersey state tax policy in comparison to other states in the use of tax incentives offered by state governments in creating new employment opportunities, fostering capital investment, and growing the economy in each state;
c. study and assess the type, scale, and effectiveness of these state tax incentives, and their related tax rate structures, in creating new employment opportunities, fostering capital investment, and growing the economy in each state;
d. evaluate the impact on business investment and the general business climate in this State and other states of reducing these state tax incentives in comparison to reducing tax rates imposed on classes of taxpayers that are eligible to participate in state tax incentive programs;
e. study and assess whether State tax incentives have achieved their purposes and comparing the achievement results with other economic development strategies, including but not limited to State tax rate reductions in growing the economy in each state; and
f. receive reports and testimony from independent experts, other qualified individuals, and members of the public that have experience in this State or other states in evaluating the effectiveness of state economic development tax incentives.
3. The task force shall issue a final report to the Governor and the Legislature not later than 180 days following the date of its organizational meeting. The report shall provide a summary of the study conducted by the task force, and shall enumerate any recommended changes to the current State tax system, including any changes to the system that require legislation, formulated by the task force. The task force shall transmit the report to the Legislature, in accordance with section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), and shall make a copy of the report available to the public electronically through a link prominently displayed on the Governor's and the Legislature's official Internet websites.
4. This act shall take effect immediately and sections 1 though 3 of this act shall expire upon the issuance of the task force final report.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the "Business Tax and Incentive Task Force" as a nine-member task force responsible for studying and making certain recommendations regarding State business tax competitiveness among the states and economic development tax incentives offered by state governments throughout the nation.
The bill requires the task force to study the features of states' tax systems impacting business expansion, investment and development, chiefly in comparison to this State as a competitive advantage or disadvantage for in-state business growth and of changes that will improve New Jersey's business climate and review the type, scale, and effectiveness of state tax incentives, and their related tax rate structures, in comparison to this State and develop recommendations relating to, the effectiveness of economic development tax incentives and tax rate structures in creating new employment opportunities, fostering capital investment, and growing the economy in this State. As part of its study, the resolution requires the task force to:
- evaluate the impact on business investment and the general business climate in this State and other states of reducing these state tax incentives in comparison to reducing tax rates imposed on classes of taxpayers that are eligible to participate in state tax incentive programs; and
- study and assess whether State tax incentives have achieved their purposes and comparing the achievement results with other economic development strategies, including but not limited to State tax rate reductions in growing the economy in each state.
The task force shall comprise nine members: five of whom shall be appointments respectively made by the Governor, President of the Senate, Speaker of the General Assembly, the Minority Leader of the Senate and the Minority Leader of the General Assembly; and four of whom shall be appointments made by the Governor, one of each of whom shall represent the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the State Treasurer, the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, and the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce.
The bill directs the task force to organize as soon as possible after the appointment of a majority of its members, and to elect a chairperson and appoint a secretary. The bill requires the task force to meet and to hold hearings at the times and in the places the chairman determines to be necessary to conduct its study. The bill requires the task force to issue a final report not later than 180 days following the date of its organizational meeting. The bill requires the report to provide findings of the task force and any legislation recommended making changes to State tax laws.
