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The majority of New Jersey residents remain opposed to the idea of increasing the state’s gas tax, according to a new Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released Thursday.The poll found that 56 percent of respondents are against any proposed hike in the gas tax, echoing a similar sentiment expressed in a related poll 18 months ago. Just 42 percent of residents said they support one.
An increase in the state’s gas tax, which has been unchanged since 1988 and is the second-lowest in the country, has been proposed as a likely solution to help replenish the state’s depleted Transportation Trust Fund.
Though still opposed to an increase in the first place, 54 percent of residents said they would support dedicating all tax revenue generated by a gas tax hike to the TTF.
“New Jerseyans have not budged in their opposition to a gas tax hike, no surprise given how unpopular the proposal has been since we first asked about it in the 1980s,” said Ashley Koning, poll assistant director. “While there is less opposition than decades ago, residents nevertheless do not want to pay more at the pump.”
While some legislators have proposed doing away with New Jersey’s estate and inheritance taxes as a concession for raising the gas tax, just 37 percent of respondents said estate tax reform would make them more likely to support a gas tax increase. Another 49 percent said they’d be less likely to support one under those circumstances.
A bipartisan bill to gradually phase out the estate tax is currently being considered by the Legislature.
Tag: South Jersey
NJBIZ stories taking place in and involving South Jersey businesses, companies and business news.
Health care tech firm moves HQ, staying in Moorestown
A Moorestown-based health care technology firm has relocated within the township, according to Keystone Property Group, owner of its new location.Tabula Rasa HealthCare Inc. is moving into the Moorestown Corporate Center, signing a lease for 74,565 square feet.
“We found this prominent office complex to be an extremely attractive option,” Calvin H. Knowlton, Tabula Rasa’s chairman and CEO, said in a prepared statement. “We were looking for a property that could inspire our employees and accommodate our evolving needs. The convenience and indoor and outdoor amenities of Moorestown Corporate Center make the property a perfect fit for our company.”
The three-building, 223,000-square-foot office property is owned by Keystone, which acquired it in 2012.
“With the property’s park-like setting and three-story atrium lobbies, Moorestown Corporate Center is an ideal headquarters location for dynamic, forward-thinking firms,” Bill Glazer, Keystone’s president, said in a statement. “Because of the aesthetic and functional qualities of Moorestown Corporate Center, our tenant mix includes prominent national firms like Allstate Insurance and Destination Maternity, and we’re pleased that Tabula Rasa HealthCare chose to bring its new corporate headquarters here.”
Brian Saggiomo of CBRE represented Tabula Rasa in the transaction, while Scott Paymer represented Keystone in-house.
South Jersey manufacturers feel optimistic about activity, future
Manufacturing may have turned a corner in the region that includes South Jersey, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.The Fed said its monthly Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey found that the index for general activity rose in March, the first positive reading in seven months. Other indicators also signaled growth, the Fed added.
Among those indicators were the current new orders index, which also reversed a negative reading, and the current shipments index, which rose sharply. Firms surveyed also pushed unfilled orders and delivery time indexes to strong gains, and inventories declined overall.
Employment indicators, while improved, showed continued weakness, the Fed said. The employment index remained negative despite some growth, while the workweek index rose to its first positive reading in three months.
Price received rose slightly, to the index’s first positive number in nine months; the prices paid index, however, remained negative for the seventh straight month.
Finally, the index for future general activity grew to its highest reading in four months, offering optimism for the sector. Future indexes for new orders, shipments and employment also grew, as did indexes for future prices paid and received.
Aetna, Virtua partner up in health care ACO
South Jersey’s Virtua Health and insurer Aetna announced Wednesday that they are forming a new Accountable Care Organization as part of the ongoing health care industry trend toward patient-centered care.The collaboration intends to improve the quality of patient care, create new choices for consumers and lower overall health care costs, the two said in a news release. Alongside the ACO, the Virtua Physician Partners network of community doctors will lead efforts to promote efficiency, care coordination and improved communication.
“We are very pleased to introduce this agreement with Aetna and develop a shared vision of health care,” Virtua CEO and President Richard P. Miller said in a prepared statement. “This collaboration will offer value-based care in the South Jersey region that reflects Virtua’s standards for quality and affordability.”
The Aetna Whole Health-Virtua plan will be introduced later this year in the southern New Jersey market, using Virtua’s system of hospitals, outpatient facilities, urgent care centers and more, with the support of the physicians in the partnership network.
“Aetna is working to produce more healthy days for its members,” Michael Costa, executive director for Aetna’s New Jersey market, said in a statement. “We’re moving toward new arrangements that reward hospitals and doctors for providing better, more efficient care, rather than simply more care. We’re excited to announce this collaboration with Virtua.”
Aetna and Virtua said that, by teaming up on this ACO, they will help consumers with their care options through:
- Developing co-branded, commercial health care plans for businesses and consumers;
- Offering a competitive, affordable plan that will save users money; and
- Improving overall health care outcomes.
Virtua and Aetna have partnered on other ACO initiatives in the past.
PSEG hires Marketsmith to improve customer engagement
Public Service Electric & Gas and PSEG Long Island named Marketsmith Inc, a Cedar Knolls-based marketing and multichannel digital strategy specialist, as the utility companies’ agency of record Wednesday.”Marketsmith understands and embraces our commitment to listen, engage and solve,” PSE&G spokesperson Kathy Fitzgerald said. “We look forward to taking advantage of the agency’s comprehensive and innovative analytic and communications tools.”
PSE&G is New Jersey’s oldest and largest regulated gas and electric delivery utility, serving nearly three-quarters of the state’s population.
Marketsmith is one of the fastest-growing digital marketing agencies in the state. It will lead PSE&G’s consumer outreach strategy and provide creative, media planning and buying, direct mail, digital and production services.
“We know better than anybody how important it is to connect with consumers,” Marketsmith founder and CEO Monica C. Smith said. “We look forward to strengthening the company’s bond with its customers and helping identify ways to inform and engage, making it easier for customers to do business with them.”
The companies will begin working together immediately.
How does your county fare in terms of health?
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has released its annual County Health Rankings for 2016, in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, rating counties across the nation for their health outcomes and health factors.The foundation said in a news release Wednesday that its report found that, overall, rural counties struggled to achieve good health, while urban counties had stronger health factors such as fewer injury deaths and higher levels of education.
Among the Garden State’s 21 counties, however, the ratings seemed to shake off the national standard.
More rural, northwestern counties such as Hunterdon and Sussex were among the highly ranked, while urban counties such as Essex or Camden finished toward the back of the pack.
“The County Health Rankings show how important it is to examine all the conditions that impact well-being and can help families thrive,” Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, CEO and president of the RWJ Foundation, said in a prepared statement.
The study looked at more than 30 factors affecting health, including societal ones such as housing and commuting time.
“The Rankings data are only as valuable as the action it inspires and the lives it improves,” Bridget Catlin, co-director of the rankings, said in a statement. “Whether it’s addressing health gaps between counties or the concentration of poverty in rural and residentially segregated communities of color — targeting resources to the people and places in greatest need is essentially to building a ‘Culture of Health.’”
For overall health outcomes, New Jersey’s 21 counties ranked as follows:
- Hunterdon
- Morris
- Somerset
- Bergen
- Sussex
- Middlesex
- Monmouth
- Union
- Burlington
- Warren
- Ocean
- Hudson
- Mercer
- Passaic
- Cape May
- Gloucester
- Salem
- Atlantic
- Camden
- Essex
- Cumberland
For overall health factors, the rankings were slightly different:
- Hunterdon
- Somerset
- Morris
- Bergen
- Monmouth
- Middlesex
- Burlington
- Sussex
- Warren
- Mercer
- Union
- Ocean
- Gloucester
- Cape May
- Camden
- Hudson
- Essex
- Passaic
- Atlantic
- Salem
- Cumberland
For more on the rankings, click here.
The NJBIZ General Counsel of the Year finalists for 2016
NJBIZ is proud to announce New Jersey’s most dynamic general counsels and chief legal officers with its list of finalists for the NJBIZ General Counsel of the Year awards for 2016. These professionals each play a crucial role in making their companies successful.
Finalists will be recognized and the winner in each category will be announced during an awards breakfast and ceremony on June 9, which will be held at The Palace at Somerset Park, 333 Davidson Ave., Somerset.
The program is sponsored by Update Legal, Update Discovery, Archer & Greiner, Gibbons P.C., K&L Gates, EisnerAmper, Princeton Legal Search Group LLC and Connell Foley.
For more information, click here.
Here are the 2016 General Counsel of the Year finalists, in alphabetical order:
Healthcare Organization
Nori Fey
Company: Bayada Home Healthcare, Inc.
Location: Wenonah
Alexander Gladney
Company: Capital Health
Location: Trenton
Ann Marie Henderson
Company: Raritan Bay Medical Center
Location: Perth Amboy
Maryann Kicenuik
Company: Holy Name Medical Center
Location: Teaneck
Kevin Kramer
Company: Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway
Location: Rahway
Paul Matey
Company: University Hospital
Location: Newark
Leslie Prizant
Company: CarePoint Health System
Location: Jersey City
Nonprofit or Government Organization
Jennifer Birmingham
Company: Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation
Location: Edison
Hope Blackburn
Company: Jersey City Public Schools
Location: Jersey City
Katherine Hatton
Company: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Location: Princeton
Alida Kass
Company: New Jersey Civil Justice Institute
Location: Trenton
Private Company with annual revenues over $500 million
Jazmine Estacio
Company: Coach USA
Location: Paramus
Michelangelo Troisi
Company: Haier America Company
Location: Wayne
Robert Zetterstrom
Company: NJM Insurance Company
Location: West Trenton
Private Company with annual revenues up to $500 million
Jonathan Broder
Company: Consolidated Rail Corporation
Location: Philadelphia
Richard Kaluzinski
Company: GEODIS Wilson USA, Inc.
Location: Iselin
Michael Kurland
Company: Supreme Oil Company (aka Admiration Foods)
Location: Englewood
Michael Martin
Company: MDAdvantage Insurance Company of New Jersey
Location: Lawrenceville
Phillip Patton
Company: Hartz Mountain Industries, Inc.
Location: Secaucus
Shirleen Roberts
Company: Heller Industrial Parks, Inc.
Location: Edison
Elizabeth Tedeschi
Company: Continuum Health Alliance, LLC
Location: Marlton
James K. Valenti, Esq., PE, PP
Company: T&M Associates
Location: Middletown
Bernard Vaughan
Company: Flexi-Van Leasing, Inc.
Location: Kenilworth
Public Company
Damien Atkins
Company: Panasonic Corporation of North America
Location: Newark
David Hill
Company: NRG Energy, Inc.
Location: Princeton
Jay Kooper
Company: Middlesex Water Company
Location: Iselin
Rising Star
Eman Ahmed-Fakhry
Company: Mindray DS USA
Location: Mahwah
Rachel Engelstein
Company: GAF
Location: Parsippany
James Hetzel
Company: Hackensack University Medical Center
Location: Hackensack
Michael Jardim
Company: Nokia
Location: Murray Hill
Dana McMahon
Company: Novo Nordisk Inc.
Location: Plainsboro
Jeff Sipos
Company: ProSight Specialty Insurance
Location: Morristown
Iveta Wentink
Company: TOTE, Inc.
Location: Princeton
Lifetime Achievement Award
William N. Farran
Company: Innophos Holdings, Inc.
Location: Cranbury
Christie visits HelloFresh to talk economic growth, Trump
After a heavy day of campaigning for businessman and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday, Gov. Chris Christie was back in New Jersey Tuesday to visit HelloFresh, a five-year old German delivery meal service company with operations in Linden.The company is planning a major move to Newark, which will increase its current workforce of 122 employees by more than 400 new workers. In October, HelloFresh was approved for a 10-year, $25.1 million Grow New Jersey award to keep the company in the state.
Christie visited with workers in Linden on Monday before taking questions from reporters. He called HelloFresh a “great story of growth in New Jersey” and noted that the state’s unemployment rate had just dipped even further to 4.5 percent.
That figure, Christie pointed out, is below the national rate of 4.9 percent and well under the 9.8 percent mark when he first took office in 2010.
“We’ve done a lot of great things from an economic perspective and I, quite frankly, grow weary of folks on the other side of the aisle continuing to poor mouth what is happening here,” Christie said. “The numbers are now the numbers. When you are four-tenths of a point below the national average, when you are better than any state in the region, when you have recovered all of the jobs that were lost during the great recession, even some of our most strident political opponents are going to have to finally admit that our policies have worked.”
HelloFresh, Christie said, is “just another example of how those policies, both using economic incentives and keeping taxes down in this state, not allowing them to increase at all different levels is the thing that needs to be done to make New Jersey competitive and to give our citizens a chance to have a good job where they come to work every day, feel good about what they do, and be paid a competitive wage.”
Incentives, Christie added, is just a part of the economic recovery effort needed to make New Jersey more competitive with its neighbors.
“These guys at HelloFresh create the jobs,” Christie said. “What we do for them is to create an atmosphere under which it is profitable for them to expand. And they told me flat out in the meeting we just had that if we did not have the incentive program we had, they would have left to another state. They mentioned Pennsylvania for one, New York for another. So, we are competing every day regionally and us saying no to higher taxes, which I will continue to say no to for every day that I am governor, for us continuing to streamline our incentive programs to make them more user-friendly and more economically advantageous for entrepreneurs like the folks here.”
Christie also fielded a number of questions about Trump, who increased his delegate lead Tuesday with big primary wins in Florida, Illinois and North Carolina.
The governor defended his decision to campaign with the former Atlantic City casino owner on Monday instead of attending a funeral for New Jersey State Trooper Sean Cullen, who was killed last week when he was struck by a passing vehicle.
Christie said that even if he had been in the state, the plan was for Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno to attend the funeral.
“This is our normal protocol,” Christie said.
The move was met with wide criticism, from police unions to the front page of Tuesday’s New York Daily News.
Christie said that he currently doesn’t know when he’ll campaign with Trump again.
Atlantic City ‘A-list’ entertainment bill advanced by Senate panel
A bill that’s designed to drive “A-list” entertainment acts to Atlantic City was approved Monday by the Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee.Under the legislation, which is sponsored by state Sen. Tom Kean (R-Westfield), qualified entertainers who hold performances on at least four scheduled dates in the city’s tourism district in a calendar year would be eligible to receive a state tax credit.
The credits would also apply to all income earned at scheduled performances at New Jersey venues across the state.
Kean says the bill would help New Jersey compete with states that have little or no income tax like Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Nevada.
“Top bands that can sell out shows and earn tax-free income in Las Vegas or Miami have little incentive to play in Atlantic City or subject themselves to New Jersey’s high tax rates,” Kean said. “We should not forget that we generate no tax revenue from empty venues when performers skip New Jersey.”
In order to qualify for a tax credit, entertainers must meet a number of criteria set by the New Jersey Department of State that includes ticket sales, record sales and awards. The application process would be administered by the State Division of Taxation.
Kean has previously pointed to Atlantic City’s widely popular summer beach concerts over the last few years as examples for why the bill is needed to consistently draw large crowds.
“When popular bands visit Atlantic City, they draw huge crowds that buy concert tickets, eat at city restaurants, stay in local hotels and spend money shopping and gambling at casinos,” said Kean. “That surge of economic activity that accompanies A-List performers is exactly what Atlantic City needs to survive and thrive.”
Kean’s bill wasn’t the only one approved Monday that may have an impact on Atlantic City as the state Legislature also voted to put the question of casino expansion on the November ballot and the Senate further advanced a state takeover measure.
But New Jersey Policy Perspective president Gordon MacInnes said that the legislation represents just another misguided attempt to boost tourism.
“It’s like the encore no one asked for,” said MacInnes. “This proposal was widely panned the first time around, including by casino operators. And for good reason: It wouldn’t do a lick to bring more dollars to Atlantic City, but could do a whole lot of harm to the state’s ability to invest in the critical public services that help make New Jersey a great place to live, work, do business and enjoy live entertainment.”
Legislature votes to put North Jersey casino expansion on ballot
New Jersey voters will be asked this November to decide if casino gaming in the state should expand beyond Atlantic City, after a resolution to place the question on the ballot received the necessary three-fifths majority support from both the Senate and the Assembly on Monday.Supporters of the measure see Monday’s vote as the first step towards bringing resort-style gaming destinations to northern New Jersey.
“There’s a new world order when it comes to casino gaming and we have to act to compete with the casinos in other states,” said Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford), who came to terms on an agreement for the resolution in January with Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus). “New Jersey no longer has a monopoly on casinos in the Northeast; there are an increasing number of competitors in nearby states. Expanding casinos to North Jersey will contribute to the state’s economy with an investment in jobs and economic activity. The casino expansion will also help generate state funds in support of the programs that serve senior citizens and the disabled.”
The resolution calls for two new gaming permits to go to planned casinos in separate counties located at least 75 miles away from Atlantic City. Only currently licensed operators in New Jersey will be eligible to apply for a new permit and must commit to a guaranteed $1 billion capital investment for each project.
“The immediate investment in North Jersey will generate billions of dollars in private sector construction work and will contribute to long-term economic activity in the region,” added state Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge). “We need to recapture the gaming business that has migrated out of state and revive a business sector that has long been important to the state’s economy.”
Atlantic City area officials have largely rejected the proposal from its onset, claiming that casinos in the northern half of the state will cannibalize an already oversaturated market. The measure calls for the city to receive up to one-third of generated revenues for revitalization purposes.
“The morning that a North Jersey casino opens, over 10,000 hard-working Atlantic County residents will wake up without a job and without an opportunity to put food on the table,” said Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo (D-Northfield). “This legislation is taking the livelihood out from beneath our already struggling middle-class families.”
Mazzeo and state Sen. Jim Whelan (D-Northfield) pledged Monday to work towards defeating the ballot proposal.
“This is once again a shortsighted move that will do nothing more than saturate an already overly-saturated gaming market, jeopardizing jobs and investment in Atlantic City,” Whelan said. “No one has been able to adequately say how North Jersey casinos will be successful when New York City inevitably gets casino gaming. It is fantasy to think that North Jersey casinos will generate hundreds of millions of dollars for Atlantic City. I will do everything I can to defeat this referendum at the polls in November.”
Earlier Monday, Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian, who is currently battling several legislators in a fight over a proposed state takeover of the city’s finances, announced a panel discussion scheduled for next week on casino expansion “compromise” efforts featuring a number of lawmakers and business leaders.
Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Jim Kirkos, who is scheduled to participate on Guardian’s panel, cheered Monday’s news.
“The prospect of casino properties in the northern part of New Jersey is not just an opportunity to plug the state’s gaming revenue that is leaking over our borders, but to augment the destination economy in our region,” Kirkos said. “The Meadowlands Sports Complex stands poised to once again be one of the great entertainment and sports districts in the world with the infrastructure and proximity to population centers to support what should be one of the vibrant destinations in North America.”
New Jersey Policy Perspective President Gordon MacInnes was less enthusiastic, noting that the last thing the state should be doing is looking to double-down on its gaming industry.
“With this proposal on the fast track to this fall’s ballot, our only hope is that New Jersey’s voters have better common sense, and a healthier amount of skepticism, than its legislators,” MacInnes said.
The voter referendum comes at a tough time for Atlantic City, where four casinos closed in the 2014 calendar year, leaving the city with eight remaining properties. However, in December, Moody’s Investors Service announced that it expects more Atlantic City casinos to close in the near future.
Voter support for the measure is also up in the air. A Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind Poll released in June found that a majority of New Jersey residents, some 56 percent, opposed expanding casino gambling beyond Atlantic City.
Senate panel approves bill to regulate daily fantasy sports
The Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee voted 5-0 Monday in favor of a bill that aims to regulate daily fantasy sports in New Jersey.Under the bill, which is sponsored by state Sen. Jim Whelan (D-Northfield), popular sites like FanDuel and DraftKings would be regulated by the state Department of Law and Public Safety.
“As daily fantasy sports continues to gain popularity, many states are struggling with how to efficiently regulate it,” Whelan said. “Our bill shows you can have a regulatory model in place that protects consumers while at the same time not overburdening fantasy sports companies.”
The measure contains provisions that would forbid employees of daily fantasy sports companies from playing or sharing statistical information that may offer a competitive advantage. Another provision would also allow for prospective players to restrict themselves from participating.
The call for regulation comes after New York launched an investigation last year into whether or not FanDuel and DraftKings employees were utilizing insider information to gain an advantage.
Alongside the rise in popularity of daily fantasy sports sites, a number of states have passed regulatory bills for the industry and many more are currently contemplating it.
“The reality is that daily fantasy sports isn’t going anywhere,” Whelan said. “We can either do nothing, or we can help attract these fantasy sports companies to New Jersey and protect consumers in the process.”
The measure now heads to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.
Christie back on the road Monday for Trump
After helping to broker a deal late Friday night that averted a looming NJ Transit strike, Gov. Chris Christie will head back to the presidential campaign trail Monday in support of Republican candidate Donald Trump.Christie first endorsed the businessman and former Atlantic City casino owner late last month and has since appeared with him at campaign stops in Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida.
Trump’s schedule for Monday includes visits to Florida, Ohio and North Carolina ahead of Tuesday primaries in all three states. It’s currently unclear if Christie will accompany Trump at all of Monday’s designated campaign events.
For the Trump campaign, Monday’s schedule follows an intense weekend that saw events marked with heavy protests and frequent disruptions. On Friday evening, Trump was forced to cancel a rally in Chicago amid security concerns.
Speaking on Friday night at a news conference to announce the NJ Transit deal, Christie, who was vacationing last week in Florida, said that the responsibility for the chaos surrounding Trump’s campaign did not lie solely with him.
On Sunday during an interview for NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump said that while he does not condone the violence seen at some of his rallies, he does not accept responsibility for what’s taking place.