New Jersey & the Federal Government, Perfect Together
No fiscal analysis means NJ citizens have to 'wait and see' what happens after legislation targeting Russia/Belarus is hastily passed in Trenton
It's official. After roughly two years of pandemic propelled partisanship frequently punctuated by controversial legislative activity resulting in strict party line votes, Democrats and Republicans in Trenton have joined forces to march in lockstep with the Biden administration. On March 9, Governor Phil Murphy approved P.L.2022 c.3 targeting business entities or investments tied to Russia and Belarus. The bill, S1889/A3090 was passed unanimously by the NJ Legislature during votes held on March 3 and March 8, 2022 after being introduced, referred to committee, and passed by the NJ Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on February 28, 2022.
Details of the new law imposing state level sanctions are described and discussed with colorful commentary from elected officials in a press release from the Governor's Office here.
Notably, the NJ law has a provision that binds it to "federal sanctions contained in Executive Order 14024." Read the Federal Register entry for the executive order signed by President Joseph R. Biden on April 15, 2021 here. In other words, the State of New Jersey will not lift its sanctions until the United States government determines that the national emergency described in the EO 14024 has been sufficiently handled. Yet again, the people of New Jersey have not been afforded an opportunity to comment and are subject to decisions made by the federal government, not by elected state officials.
To be clear - We Are New Jersey is not taking a policy position on the imposition of sanctions or making a judgement about the Russia-Ukraine conflict per se - however, in addition to this latest example of no public involvement in the legislative process, it’s worth noting that due to a rushed timeline, leadership within the State of New Jersey have no idea what the economic impacts of this law will be on the government or taxpayers. Given the context of a volatile financial climate, ongoing hardships related to the pandemic, and federal sanctions with associated economic consequences, one is left wondering what net effect these new sanctions will have on regular New Jerseyans. How much extra pain could the people of the Garden State be exposed to via this hasty law?
The Office of Legislative Services which provides legal consultation and analysis during the research and drafting process prior to completion of legislation and otherwise supports elected officials in understanding and writing new laws, released this Legislative Fiscal Estimate in connection with the bill establishing Russian sanctions signed by Gov. Murphy on March 9.
The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) cannot determine the fiscal impact of this bill because of a lack of information on the current contracts, investments, and banking relationships that would be prohibited by the bill, or the alternatives that would be adopted if the bill’s prohibitions take effect.
· The net fiscal impact of the bill may be positive, negative, or neutral depending on the behavior of some contractors and private businesses, and on dynamic economic variables that cannot be foreseen.
· The OLS anticipates that there may possibly be an indeterminate revenue increase from the imposition of the penalties provided for in the bill.
In closing, We Are New Jersey urges readers to think critically about the facts surrounding this emotionally charged political maneuver by Gov. Murphy and NJ legislators which has questionable ability to meaningfully influence a military conflict occurring in a far away part of the world. Maybe it's time for New Jerseyans to start asking why advancing this policy was prioritized at the same time that controversial pandemic related mandates were terminated by the Murphy administration. Taken in context it appears that the Trenton swamp may think constituents are stupid and/or possess short attention spans which will allow them to foist these sanctions as a moral victory while inflation rises and they continue to plunder the life force of hard working New Jerseyans through the imposition of steep taxes, heavy regulatory burdens and soul-crushing progressive social policies.
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