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Action comes after new report from New York Times detailing Governor Christie's $1.5 billion in public funds to corporations while cutting education, public safety, and property tax relief

BY ROB DUFFEY

NEW JERSEY WORKING FAMILIES ALLIANCE

NEWARK, NJ- On Tax Day, activists from around the state gathered outside of Prudential Inc.'s corporate headquarters in protest of Governor Christie's proposed $250 million tax credit for one of the nation's most profitable insurance companies. Advocates drove a U-Haul moving truck to Prudential Plaza and offered to move the employees "free of charge" if they gave up the tax credit. Attendees of the rally brought moving boxes and hand-trucks to assist.

"Since taking office Governor Christie has given billions in public dollars to the wealthiest 1 percent in the form of personal income tax cuts and corporate subsidies," said Bill Holland, coordinator of the Better Choices for New Jersey campaign that organized the event. "Far from stimulating the economy, his policies have New Jersey lagging behind other states in job growth while working families pay more and get less in essential services."

The $250 million subsidy was offered to Prudential through the Urban Transit Hub Credit, which provides up to 100 percent of any capital investment made by a company that moves to designated zones in New Jersey. If the grant is finalized, Prudential will be moving employees from its offices at Gateway Plaza to a new office tower within blocks of its corporate headquarters. The state initially agreed to grant Prudential a 12-acre parcel of land on Center Street, but the company has recently amended its request in order to build a more expensive $444 million building near its existing offices on Broad Street.

Prudential is no stranger to tax credits. When Prudential acquired its Gateway 1 office near Penn Station in 1973, it received the remainder of a 15-year tax abatement granted to the developers in 1971. In 2010 it received a federal tax income refund of $722 million despite reporting $2.4 billion in profits to shareholders. The owners of Gateway Plaza have sued over the recent Urban Transit Hub Credit, arguing that the state grant has ensured Prudential will vacate its offices at the expiration of its lease and leave the owners with no other viable renters.

Advocates noted that the grant was just one of hundreds given to businesses since Governor Christie took office in January 2010. Panasonic received $102.4 million to move its offices from Secaucus one train station away to Newark last year through another Urban Transit Hub Credit. Meanwhile, the state used other subsidy program mechanisms to grant $261 million to Revel Casinos in Atlantic City and another $12.3 million to Citigroup in Jersey City. Currently the state is in negotiations over a proposed tax credit for the troubled mall development formerly known as Xanadu. Two weeks ago the New York Times tallied Governor Christie's awards at corporations at $1.5 billion.

"Every dollar spent on ineffective and wasteful corporate subsidies is a dollar that isn't spent on essential services," said Phyllis Salowe-Kaye, Executive Director of New Jersey Citizen Action. "Instead of giving even more tax cuts to corporations, Governor Christie and the legislature should restore devastating cuts to public investments like the Earned Income Tax Credit, New Jersey Family Care, foreclosure prevention, mass transit, and public education. These are the sort of crucial investments that will ensure New Jersey is a good place to live, work, and do business."

Though these subsidies are often granted in the name of job growth, New Jersey's unemployment rate hovers at 9 percent, above the national average – and the state has recovered only 20 percent of the 261,000 jobs lost during the recession. Prudential has promised to add 400 jobs to its payroll over the next 10 years, but the New York Times report noted that these were forecasted based on historical company growth trends and would likely be created even without the UTH grant.

"New Jersey can make better choices that will generate the kind of job growth this state needs," said Holland. "By asking the wealthy and corporations to pay their fair share, the state can afford to make key investments in transit, education, and public safety that will lead to long term job growth and prosperity 100 percent of its residents can share in."

Better Choices for New Jersey represents over 80 organizations including the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, New Jersey Policy Perspective, New Jersey Citizen Action, and the New Jersey Environmental Federation. The campaign calls for increased investment in critical public services and long-term solutions to New Jersey's fiscal troubles. Some of its revenue proposals were adopted in the budget for FY 2010.