Tagged: Private Sector

Governor Christie Presents the FY 2018 Budget

Earlier this week, Governor Christie announced his final State Budget to a joint session of the Legislature. The Governor’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget of $35.5 billion represents a 2.6 percent increase from the prior year. It assumes annual growth in the State’s major tax revenues (gross income tax, sales tax, and corporate business tax) and also reallocates funding between programs. The highlights of the FY 2018 Budget include: $17.4 billion in school and local aid, representing almost half of all State spending; A $2.5 billion contribution to the State pension system, with payments occurring quarterly; Cuts to most Executive Departments including Agriculture, Community Affairs, Corrections, Environmental Protection, Labor, Law and Public Safety, Military and Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Treasury; Funding increases to the Departments of Health and Human Services for the expansion of FamilyCare, opioid addiction treatment, and graduate medical education; $20 million appropriation for lead remediation assistance for low and moderate income households; Additional State health benefit reforms, saving the State $125 million in FY 2018; and A lump-sum contribution from the State Lottery system to the State’s pension system to reduce the existing unfunded liability. Governor Christie also proposed a supplemental appropriation in the current fiscal year of $400 million for the State’s transportation system, to be allocated within the next 100 days....

What You Need to Know About Federal Regulatory Reform

President Trump and the newly-elected Congress have made regulatory reform a main focus of their policy agenda. With Republicans controlling both the White House and Capitol Hill for the first time in over a decade, significant actions were taken within the first several weeks of coming into power that regulated industries should be aware of. Implementation of a Regulatory Freeze – The Trump Administration froze all federal rulemaking by issuing a policy memorandum to the Executive Branch departments and agencies. The memorandum declared that no regulations should be submitted “until a department or agency head appointed or designated by the President … reviews and approves the regulation.” The memorandum also required the Executive Branch agencies to either withdraw or postpone all agency regulations submitted to the Office of the Federal Register. The only exceptions to the regulatory freeze are for “emergency situations or other urgent circumstances relating to health, safety, financial, or national security matters” or “regulations subject to statutory or judicial deadlines.” Reducing Regulations for Domestic Manufacturing – President Trump directed the Executive Branch departments and agencies to support the expansion of manufacturing in the United States through “expedited reviews of and approvals for proposals to construct or expand manufacturing facilities and through reductions in regulatory burdens affecting domestic manufacturing.” A key component of...

Equity Crowdfunding Turns Six Months Old: Looking at Title III for Investors and Businesses

November 16, 2016 marked the six-month anniversary of Title III of the JOBS Act of 2012 being fully implemented. Title III and the rules promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) allow businesses to raise capital through “equity crowdfunding.” This is the act of raising capital from others via the internet, by seeking small investments from a large number of potential investors through the use of licensed broker-dealers or internet funding portals. These investments are exempt from the traditional security registration requirements. People are generally familiar with existing “crowdfunding” platforms such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and GoFundMe which have been in existence since at least 2008. These platforms practice rewards-based crowdfunding.  Backers give a “campaign” money, and the backer gets back a “reward,” i.e., a thank you note or the first edition of a product. Title III, however, allows for “equity crowdfunding,” which is the ability to buy ownership in an early-stage company and hopefully reap a monetary return on that investment. Instead of getting that thank you note or new product, the investor is getting a piece of equity in the company he or she just invested in. Many industry professionals and commentators expected “equity crowdfunding” to be a “slow burn” due to regulatory hurdles, a lack...

Why and How – Basics of Government Affairs (Part 1 of 2)

“Don’t you know someone in the Governor’s Office?” “You know the Senate President, right?” “That woman we met at that Chamber of Commerce event last month, she is the Chief of Staff to the Assembly Speaker, right?” After a lobbyist hears these words, most times the next sentence goes something like this: “We are having a problem with … and our CEO asked me to see what we can do in order to …” Then the client relates to us the sad tale of a difficult piece of legislation, or regulation, or land use development that will negatively impact the client’s core business. The CEO then asks you to fix the problem and save the day. And more times than not, the final nail in the coffin necessary to sink the client’s business interest in this bill, regulation, or development is being acted upon by the government … in a matter of days. In these types of cases, it is simply too late. Too late to begin to think about a government affairs strategy. The cake has already been baked. These scenarios happen, unfortunately, more frequently than one would think, even among sophisticated businessmen and-women across a myriad of industries. It cannot be overstated that if your company is a serious player in your industry,...

Innovation Brewing in the New Jersey Legislature

Every summer, New Jersey legislators travel to the annual conferences of the National Conference of State Legislators (“NCSL”), the Council of State Governments (“CSG”), and the American Legislative Exchange Council (“ALEC”) to educate themselves about policy innovations occurring throughout the United States. While we wait to learn about their experiences, right now is a good opportunity to focus on innovative legislation currently before the New Jersey Legislature. As of August 15, 2016, 7,068 bills have been introduced in the New Jersey Legislature, 4,379 in the Assembly and 2,689 in the Senate, and only 87 have been signed into law. The following list of bills currently in committee represent examples by legislators looking to encourage innovation in New Jersey: S158 (Madden)/A3631 (Quijano) would promote investment in New Jersey by broadening the types of New Jersey emerging technology businesses that are eligible to receive investments under the New Jersey Angel Investor Tax Credit Act; A3187 (Munoz)/ S948 (Singer) would create a program within the New Jersey Economic Development Authority that would create a pathway to the commercial market for technology developed at a New Jersey college or university. Under this legislation, New Jersey would stimulate the economy while recapturing the state’s investment in higher education; and S348 (Kean) would utilize funds from the Workforce Development Partnership Fund,...