Don’t Let Lame Duck Season Clip Business

At Issue

By Christopher Emigholz, NJBIA Deputy Chief Government Affairs Officer On Nov 3, 2025

Since the 1800s, “lame duck” has been used to describe lawmakers who were about to leave office and have a limited time left to exercise their waning political power.

A lame duck session of a Legislature due to retirements, term limits, and election outcomes, has the potential to lead to rushed public policy, chaos, and poor policy outcomes not reflective of the will of voters. 

New Jersey is no different with unpredictable and sometimes scary (if you are a business and/or taxpayer) lame duck sessions of our state Legislature. November marks the beginning of this biennial period that ends when the new governor and a new legislative term start in January.

Despite the abbreviated time and rush to get things done to satisfy policymakers who are on their way out the door, NJBIA has a few requests for the sake of good public policy and a strong state economy.

Competitiveness:

Please consider business competitiveness, or lack thereof, with every policy choice you make. Pursue balance and avoid making New Jersey a negative outlier among states that will further chill business investment and job creation.

Affordability:

Remember that while everyone is newly struggling with shocking energy bill increases due to poor energy policy that limited supply, we are the only state in the nation with four major tax rates that are in the top third of all states (highest corporate taxes, highest property taxes, one of the highest top income tax rates, and a state sales tax rate in the top third). 

Moreover, New Jersey has increased taxes by about $2 billion since June 2024. In our already unaffordable state, we simply cannot afford to further increase taxes or do anything to make New Jersey more expensive.

Pro-growth Investments:

If our lame ducks are planning to spend any new state dollars, then we ask that it be on pro-growth investments – workforce development, innovation and infrastructure. 

No Anti-Growth Mandates: 

Please say no to further mandates on top of the already over-regulated business environment. 

It is hard to do business in our state, so don’t make it harder. 

If lawmakers keep these themes front and center, New Jersey’s new governor and Legislature will enter 2026 stronger, more resilient, and better positioned for growth. 

Conclusion:

The business community stands ready to partner with policymakers in these final months of the Murphy administration and legislative term to ensure that this lame duck session produces stability, opportunity, and momentum for our state economy.  

To access more business news, visit NJB News Now.

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