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Good Friday morning!
Lately, we’ve seen efforts by public bodies to clamp down on public comment. In December, the Rutgers Board of Governors voted to limit the number of speakers to 12 and give them two minutes each. On Monday, the Hudson County Board of Commissioners passed the first draft of an ordinance limiting total public comment time to two hours, after listening to nine hours of opposition to renewing their jail contract with ICE.
TRENTON, N.J. – Phil Murphy’s 2021 state of the state address – his last before he faces reelection – was extremely light on details for the new year and garnered weak reviews today from most quarters.
“The Governor’s speech had a lot of slick video production but there wasn’t much there for small businesses,” said NFIB’s New Jersey State Director Eileen Kean. “As a matter of fact, when he listed his accomplishments, many have been mandates that are harmful to small businesses because they raised the overall cost of doing business.”
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“Now that many small businesses are hanging on by a thread financially, they may have preferred the Governor didn’t borrow over 4 billion dollars to fill a budget deficit because paying that bill and interest will fall on small businesses in the form of higher taxes,” added Kean. “The Governor said small businesses are the backbone of the local and state economy but the incentive program he highlights really doesn’t