If you’ve ever tried to build something in New Jersey, you know the process can feel less like a fast lane and more like a toll booth.
Take the power plant I recently visited in Linden as an example. This power plant wants to build out its facilities to increase capacity. That process would take two years — a full year longer than it would take elsewhere — because of administrative and permitting delays. Meanwhile, New Jersey utility bills keep going up because we’re not creating enough power.
It’s not fair that New Jersey families suffer the consequences of long permitting processes.
To face our challenges in health care, housing, and development head on, we need to build in New Jersey again. Government needs to make decisions faster, clearer, and more predictable when someone wants to build something the state needs — housing, hospitals, utility upgrades, or road and transit improvements.
New Jersey desperately needs these changes. Think about health care. When a community needs an expanded emergency department or mental health care facility, they are trapped in a complicated permitting maze, with dead ends at every corner. Delays can’t be an option when lives are on the line.
The state faces a housing shortage of roughly 300,000 affordable units. The housing crunch means the average New Jersey home price exceeds $565,000 — a 13 percent jump in one year. In Burlington County, data suggests a 23% increase on median home sale prices over the last three years. While our new affordable housing law requires municipalities to plan for tens of thousands of new units, the construction needed to meet that demand can’t begin if permits take years instead of months.
Permitting delays affect our agricultural industry too. My district is the “Blueberry Capital of the World”, but it is being held back by a permitting system that cannot keep pace with modern farming. Leading growers like Atlantic Blueberry Company and Variety Farms have spent years discussing a centralized processing facility that would improve efficiency, reduce costs, and strengthen the regional supply chain. Yet no progress has been made since 2022 due largely to protracted and uncertain permitting hurdles. When regulatory timelines outlast business planning cycles, they don’t just stall projects, they directly threaten the long-term viability of multigenerational farms, making it harder to pass them on to the next generation and undermines the future of farming in the Garden State.
This is why I introduced legislation (A2768) to establish an Office of Permitting and Broadband Deployment and Development Efficiency and create a New Jersey Permit Fast Track Program. The goal is to bring coordination, transparency, and accountability to a process that too often lacks all three.
Under this proposal, developers and infrastructure providers would have a centralized point of contact within the Department of State to help guide projects through the permitting process with clear requirements upfront and more information about where approvals stand.
Here’s what this bill does not do. It does not weaken a single labor, safety, or environmental protection. It simply makes sure that crews are not waiting while paperwork circulates endlessly between agencies. It creates timelines and accountability so communities can track progress; businesses can invest with confidence; and labor can prepare apprentices, schedule crews, and manage demand.
Permitting delays aren’t just inconvenient, they are job killers. When permits move, investment follows. Housing and hospitals get built, farms grow, people are connected, and good union jobs get created. Major energy upgrades, transportation improvements, and redevelopment projects across the state are ready for investment — the only thing slowing work down is paperwork.
In early 2026, New Jersey began shifting from planning stages to moving forward on various infrastructure initiatives. If permitting delays slow that progress, the consequences will be immediate: higher costs, delayed construction, and slower access for communities that need it most.
Governor Sherrill is committed to making New Jersey more competitive, supportive for business growth, and affordable for families. The Legislature must do its part to support Governor Sherill by passing legislation to make government work more efficiently.
New Jersey has the resources, workforce, and ambition to succeed. The question is no longer whether we will invest in infrastructure. That work is already happening. The question now is whether our systems can catch up.
This is the moment. Let’s build.
Andrea Katz was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 2024. In addition to representing Legislative District 8, she also serves on the committees for Agriculture and Natural Resources (chair), Telecommunications and Utilities, and Transportation and Independent Authorities.
