DOHERTY: CORZINE SPENDS TAX DOLLARS TO ATTRACT STEM CELL FACILITY WHILE CONTINUING TO DRIVE JOBS FROM NEW JERSEY

CORZINE POLICIES KILLING NEW JERSEY’S JOB CLIMATE – EXCEPT FOR HIS PET INDUSTRIES 

Assemblyman Michael Doherty today said that it should come as no surprise on the same day that Governor Corzine signs legislation that will likely drive even more jobs and businesses out of New Jersey, he is still pushing his favorite pet project by handing out a state grant to attract a stem cell research company with five employees.

“Last November state voters went to the polls and overwhelmingly rejected state funding for stem cell research in New Jersey,” said Doherty, R-Warren and Hunterdon. “Now, at the same time that the Governor’s anti-business agenda is driving all other forms of business from this state, he is spending state tax dollars to attract a stem cell research firm with a whopping five employees to New Jersey.”

California-based StemCyte Inc., received state grants worth up to $589,000 to locate in New Jersey. With that grant the company opened a facility in Ewing that currently employs just five workers, a move heralded yesterday by Governor Jon Corzine. The grants come through the state’s Business Employment Incentive Program (BEIP).

Doherty noted that Corzine is touting the arrival of this new stem cell facility at the same time that he plans to sign into law today a paid leave program that will impose a new payroll tax on all New Jersey workers while increasing the cost of doing business in the state – a move he says is certain to cement New Jersey’s reputation as one of the least business-friendly states in the nation.

New Jersey lost 10,400 jobs in the first three months of the year and such large New Jersey employers as Merrill Lynch are laying off thousands of employees. Schering Plough recently announced the elimination of 500 jobs in Kenilworth, while Teva Pharmaceuticals based in Northvale is looking to lay off 155 employees this month.

“The Governor is chasing jobs from this state left and right, yet when it comes to his favored industries, despite a budget shortfall he’s more than willing to hand out state grants to attract those jobs,” Doherty said. “So while New Jersey families worry about their own economic well-being and their job security, Governor Corzine apparently wants them to sleep easier tonight with the knowledge that he has used their tax dollars to attract five new employees to the state.

“At a time when we’re losing jobs by the thousands, this isn’t going to cut it for economic growth.”

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