The statement below is by Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr., Camden City Council President Curtis Jenkins and state Sen. Nilsa Cruz Perez in regard to Governor Phil Murphy’s hypocritical comments on the Goldman Sachs tax credits.
“We read with shock that Gov. Phil Murphy, who has launched a relentless attack on Camden businesses that participated in the state’s tax credit programs was not just enthusiastic but lobbied hard when it came time to support tax credits for the oldest investment bank in the country, Goldman Sachs.
The Star Ledger reports that in 2003, Gov. Murphy pleaded with then-Gov. Jim McGreevey to not cancel $165 million in tax credits for his beloved Goldman Sachs, where he was a member of the management committee. Back then Governor Murphy, perhaps less concerned about the middle class, argued that the state’s tax incentive program was an important factor in Goldman Sachs’ decision to spend $1.4 billion to erect a 40-story skyscraper in Jersey City.
So, if we are reading this correctly, Gov. Murphy was for incentives as managing partner of Goldman Sachs before he was against them for Camden? The only conclusion we can draw from this statement is that what was good for him and his wealthy partners then isn’t good today for businesses and residents of Camden.
For the first time in 50 years Camden’s future is bright, but to satisfy a political vendetta the Governor is willing to put thousands of new jobs and development at risk. His administration’s attack on the businesses and people of Camden is shameful and flies in the face of his own aggressive support of economic incentives when it suited his needs.
In fact, below is the word for word work from the Star Ledger:
In 2003, Murphy was quoted in The Star-Ledger saying the state’s tax incentive program was an important factor in Goldman Sachs’ decision to spend $1.4 billion to erect a 40-story skyscraper in Jersey City.
At the time, then-Gov. Jim McGreevey was weighing whether to eliminate an incentive program.
“If New Jersey goes back on its commitment, its promise,” Murphy, then Goldman Sachs’ managing director, said, “we must wonder whether that commitment still stands to bring those jobs and those companies to our cities and towns.”