Opinion

Crony capital, inc.

No one knows better than Chris Christie that between Snooki and The Sopranos, New Jersey’s image could use a boost. We’ve got the ticket: How about a high-profile veto of a bill on his desk representing crony capitalism at its worst?

Like most corporate welfare, this package is bipartisan in its badness, but comes wrapped in a soothing title. It’s called the New Jersey Economic Opportunity Act. That’s a nice way of saying politicians and bureaucrats using tax dollars to bribe businesses to stay in New Jersey.

In that sense, the bill is at least an admission that too many businesses are looking to leave. Recently, Hertz announced it was moving its operation to Florida. And others not nearly as famous have also relocated elsewhere.

Unfortunately, the political response only compounds the problem. For example, an earlier version of this bill included a prevailing-wage requirement. Though it’s been taken out, legislators added some sweeteners for South Jersey, the base for state Senate President Stephen Sweeney.

The result is legislation that has ballooned from 47 to 82 pages — and has critics on all sides. One of the bill’s sponsors doesn’t like a provision tying subsidies for residential buildings to affordable housing. Left-wing environmentalists don’t like it because they think it encourages development in areas that ought to be off-limits.

But the real reason to kill this bill is that it’s part of New Jersey’s problem, not its solution. As Mike Proto of Americans for Prosperity puts it: “Corporate welfare is no way to grow an economy. The best way to make New Jersey inviting to business is to cut taxes and reduce regulation.”

In the past, we’ve criticized Andrew Cuomo and the Empire State Development agency for schemes like the one on Christie’s desk. By vetoing the whole package, Christie would protect taxpayers — and send a signal that Jersey’s pols were getting out of the economy, not finding a new vehicle for bestowing favors.