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The Greater Atlantic City Chamber would like to thank the following sponsors:
Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee Hearing on Economic Crisis
The committee members heard from Caren Franzini, CEO of the Economic Development Authority (EDA); Steven Goldman, state banking and insurance commissioner; Rae Rosen, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, among others.
Franzini said the Governor has formed a committee to ensure that the federal stimulus package addresses the needs of the state’s and another taskforce was created focusing on jobs, specifically attracting businesses, assisting and retaining current New Jersey companies, and expediting construction projects. She highlighted EDA’ s new Main Street program, through which the EDA provides guarantees and loans to small and mid-sized businesses, and the InvestNJ grant program, which provides businesses with grants of up to 7 percent of their capital investment costs and $3,000 for each new job created and retained for one year. Franzini reported that the EDA has received 315 applications, which are projected to create 8,600 new jobs.
Commissioner Goldman told the committee that New Jersey’s state chartered banks are doing relatively well, but that the state’s foreclosure rate is on pace with the national average. McQueeney said that while his member banks have money to lend, they are experiencing a decline in demand.
Rosen testified that this recession is likely to outlast our previous recessions and that the unemployment rate may reach 8 to 9 percent in the second quarter of this year. She noted that New Jersey’s high per capita income will help our state rebound.
The Center for American Progress has estimated that New Jersey will receive some $17.4 billion from the federal stimulus program, including $7.2 billion in tax cuts that will provide relief to more than 3.5 million taxpayers in New Jersey beginning as early as some people's next paycheck. The stimulus package also contains much-needed assistance for the growing burden on state Unemployment Insurance funds as well as other social safety net programs as well as substantial investments in roads, bridges, dams and other infrastructure that will create billions of jobs across the nation. (Source: Governor's Office).
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