The long-awaited first meeting of the Governor’s Economic Council, held Monday afternoon in the Statehouse, did what it was intended to do when it was created back in February — it provided a forum for top business leaders and government officials to discuss key issues of the day.
Were there disagreements on the interpretation of economic metrics of the state and what to do to fix them? Of course.
Were there disagreements on what the council can accomplish (or should try to accomplish) before the next governor is sworn in next January? Certainly.
The only thing that was unanimous during the 90-minute meeting was this: The group should meet on a regular basis (perhaps monthly), those meetings should aim to be in person (though that’s not always possible) and most of all this: The group’s existence should continue into the new year and new administration.
Tim Sullivan, the CEO of the N.J. Economic Development Authority who chaired the meeting, certainly feels that way.
“The council exists by executive order so the next governor could repeal it on Day One – but I don’t know why they would,” he told BINJE. “They may change who is the chair or who is on it, but I’m sure the next governor is going to want to have a formal standing mechanism to consult the business community.
“That could take different forms for each of the candidates. But I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want to have a standing group like this.”
Tom Bracken, the CEO of the N.J. State Chamber and someone who has pushed for the group for years, certainly agrees. He told BINJE he has received assurances from both candidates (Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democrat Mikie Sherrill) that the economic council will continue.
That’s for January.
On Monday, the discussion was about what can be done to show the council has impact now.
One suggestion was pushing the governor to sign an initiative to create a Government Efficiency and Regulatory Review (or GEARR) Commission, aimed at tackling inefficiencies and streamlining regulations across state agencies. The commission, which would have reviewed red tape and recommended reforms, had near-unanimous legislative support by Murphy vetoed the bill in 2021.
(Yes, it’s similar to a campaign pledge by Sherrill, which is similar to former Gov. Chris Christie’s ‘Red Tape Commission’ – which may be an issue).
Another suggested pitched town hall meetings with business leaders to identify more issues and potential solutions.
The governor’s economic council
A look at the business leaders who participated in the first meeting Monday. They were joined by a number of government officials:
Participated in person at the Statehouse:
- Tom Bracken, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce
- Christina Renna, Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey
- John Harmon, African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey
- Chrissy Buteas, HealthCare Institute of New Jersey
- Paulina O’Connor, New Jersey Offshore Wind Alliance
- Peter Connolly, New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program
- Zoe Baldwin, Regional Plan Association
- Participated virtually:
- Dan Kennedy, NAIOP New Jersey
- Jeff Kolakowski, New Jersey Builders Association
- Carlos Medina, Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey
And then there’s this: According to the executive order that created the council, the group is supposed to create a plan based off of Murphy’s 2018 economic plan – a pre-pandemic overview that members struggled to recall the specifics of.
Therein lies the challenge.
With a limited time and difficult schedules, the group needs to find a way to not only meet but produce actionable items. If not, the council could slowly dissolve into a huge pile of Trenton talking points that never were fulfilled.
(See Steve Sweeney’s ‘Path to Progress’ and Tom Byrne’s ‘Roadmap to Resolution.’)
“That’s always a risk when you have something that you know requires a lot of people’s time,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan, however, remains optimistic.
“We had a really good group and there’s a lot of enthusiasm for getting back together in person,” he said. “It’s a question of focus and just making sure we’re not just being a chat group. There’s plenty of chat groups in the world.
“We want to be a group that is engaging on issues that are important and giving the governor good recommendations.”
Bracken is all in on that. And he’s all in on expanding the group, too.
“We can’t do much in this state without the coordination and the cooperation of the legislature,” he said. “We need to come out with a statement saying that the legislature needs to enhance their focus on the economy and the business community, because we have issues that we need them to work with us on to make a brighter economic future.
“Now is the time for the state to come together and work with the business community.”
