AMODEO AND POLISTINA: IT WILL TAKE NEW JERSEY A LONG TIME TO FIND ITS "LOST DECADE"

RUTGERS REPORT SAYS IT WILL TAKE EIGHT YEARS TO REGAIN THE JOBS LOST DURING CURRENT RECESSION

      A new report by prominent Rutgers economists says it will take the nation until 2017 to recover jobs lost during the recession and that New Jersey remains at a competitive disadvantage during this period because of its high costs for doing business.

    "Despite the rosy picture painted by Governor Corzine, our state's residents continue to lose jobs and we face a very long and daunting road to recovery because of years of failed fiscal policies that have sent scores of residents and businesses packing," Assemblyman John Amodeo, R-Atlantic, said. "The only good news for New Jersey is that this report says the recovery provides New Jersey an opportunity to become more competitive, but only if political leaders show the will to undo the damage inflicted on our community by Governor Corzine and his Democratic allies over the years.

      "Based on their recent track record, that does not look too likely," Amodeo added.

    The report, issued by Advance Realty and the Edward J. Bloustein School of Public Policy, says that while states will be competing for jobs over the next decade, New Jersey retains its geographic, work force and consumer bases, but must "restore fiscal discipline, eliminate structural budgetary deficits, revive business competitiveness in all its complex dimensions (taxation, regulation, land-use controls, and other publicly imposed costs) and re-balance the use of its resources between income redistribution and economic growth."

    A recent report by Gannett New Jersey and New Jersey 101.5 FM also cited statistics that showed New Jersey's job growth had stalled, compared with other states, long before the recession struck the nation.

    "Years of tax increases and anti-business regulations have ruined New Jersey's inherent advantages and have turned the state from the nation's economic engine to its anchor," Polistina said. "Governor Corzine and the Democrats who control the Legislature have ignored our calls for the responsible budgeting, tax-friendly policies and other common sense steps needed to move New Jersey forward and this report shows what price New Jersey is paying for their poor decisions."

    The Assembly Republican plan to rebuild New Jersey's economy, available at www.njassemblyrepublicans.com, calls for an honest and stable budget, which is a basic step toward lowering the taxes that cripple New Jersey, controlling run-away state spending and debt, and changing the tax and regulatory climate so businesses will locate in New Jersey and create more jobs here.