N.J. Governor Says an Amazon Deal Has ‘to Work for Both Sides’
N.J. Governor Says an Amazon Deal Has ‘to Work for Both Sides’
(Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said any state proposal for Amazon.com has to be good for the region as well as the company.
“It’s got to work for both sides,” Murphy, a first-term Democrat, said Friday during an interview with Bloomberg Television.
Murphy said states and cities will get push-back if there’s not balance between the needs of the company and those of the taxpayers. His comments came after Amazon said Thursday that it’s axing plans to build a new corporate campus in New York City, bowing to fierce opposition from some residents and politicians.
“We do not have that issue in Newark,” Murphy said. “Local interests in Newark have been very supportive of an arrangement as long as it was fair.”
Amazon’s plan to build a second headquarters outside Seattle led hundreds of U.S. municipalities to dangle offers. Newark, New Jersey’s most populous city, had been among the finalists, with an incentives package of more than $7 billion from the state and city. Murphy’s predecessor, Republican Chris Christie, had signed the Amazon tax-break legislation during his final days in office.
To contact the reporter on this story: Stacie Sherman in Princeton at sbabula@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rakshita Saluja at rsaluja4@bloomberg.net, William Selway
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.