Assembly Minority Whip Brian Bergen (R-Denville) is demanding that a canceled meeting of the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee be restored or rescheduled, arguing that New Jersey’s economic challenges require lawmakers to be at work.
The seven-member committee was scheduled to meet tomorrow but received notice last Friday that the meeting would not take place. Bergen objected today in a Wednesday letter to the committee chairman, William Spearman, a Democrat from Camden County.
“Cancel a meeting when there is nothing on the agenda,” Bergen wrote. “We have a state to fix. Put something on the agenda.”
Bergen cited what he called the “worst year for New Jersey employers in a generation,” including the loss of 25,600 jobs and 12,000 layoffs in July. He also pointed to corporate relocations and downsizing, including Burlington Stores’ announced move of its corporate headquarters and 1,600 jobs from New Jersey to Philadelphia.
Burlington joins companies including Samsung, Mars Wrigley, Novartis, Bristol Myers Squibb, Verizon and JPMorgan Chase in reducing or moving operations out of the state, Bergen wrote.
He also cited CNBC’s 2026 business-climate survey, which he said ranked New Jersey last in business friendliness. Bergen blamed Democratic policies for the state’s corporate business tax and high property taxes, and noted that United Van Lines has ranked New Jersey first nationally in outbound moves for eight consecutive years.
Bergen said another study estimated that the job losses would cost New Jersey $675 million in annual payroll, $27.3 million in income-tax revenue and $6.7 million in sales-tax revenue.
“I will grant you one thing. There is a logic to keeping this committee closed. Every day the Legislature does not meet is a day New Jersey does not get a new mandate, a new fee, or a new surcharge with a reassuring name on it,” Bergen wrote. “But I am not willing to settle for a Legislature whose best contribution to the economy is staying home, and you should not be either.”
“Inaction is not restraint,” he added. “It is a quieter way to lose. Employers here do not need us to do less damage. They need us to do the job.”
Bergen offered to meet with Spearman to discuss the factors employers weigh when deciding whether to expand in New Jersey or leave.
“That offer is sincere, and it is not partisan,” Bergen wrote. “Jobs are leaving Camden County the same way they are leaving Morris County.”