Proposed State Bill Would Cut Off State Contracts for Businesses That Outsource
By Jon Whiten • Aug 31st, 2010 • Category: Blog, News, Politics
Under a bill being considered in Trenton, businesses that outsouce jobs would no longer be eligible for any contract or grant with the state of New Jersey, and the state would be barred from investing any of its money in such businesses. The sponsors of the legislation, Hudson County Democrat Ruben Ramos (at right) and South Jersey Democrat Nelson Albano, say the measure is in response to the country’s ongoing recession and lingering high rates of unemployment.
“Now more than ever we need to be conscious of the businesses New Jersey invests in,” Ramos says in a statement. “We should be using every resource at our disposal to help retain and attract jobs to our country, and our state in particular.”
If the bill (A998) gets passed, the law would rely on companies’ self-reporting to determine eligibility. Prior to receiving any state contract or grant, a business would have to certify in writing that it has not eliminated jobs performed by its U.S. employees and assigned those functions to workers in a foreign nation; it would also have to agree not to do so in the future, while the state contract or grant was active.
The measure is currently awaiting a hearing before the Assembly State Government Committee.
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Jon Whiten is the founding editor of the Jersey City Independent; he now works for a public-policy nonprofit in Trenton.
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