The tweaking of the New Jersey Economic Opportunity Act of 2013 resumed in earnest in May after the legislative recess. As reported in the March and April issues of In the Zone, bills introduced by Senator Raymond Lesniak received Senate Committee scrutiny. The Economic Opportunity Act of 2014, Part III, which, among other things, seeks to correct errors in the Act continue to advance in both houses. In late May, a Senate Committee passed S1551. This bill makes several technical changes to the Act the most notable being the extension of the date by which a developer must obtain a temporary certificate of occupancy for the project. It proposes to extend the date from July 28, 2015 to July 28, 2018, a full three-year extension. For other changes, please see previous editions of In the Zone.
The Assembly version of the same bill, A3213, advanced through Committee in early June. The same three-year extension from July 28, 2015 to July 28, 2018 is included in this bill. This extension will allow a developer seeking tax credits under the ERG program the additional time to submit a temporary certificate of occupancy for the project. While passage of some of the legislation has been doubted by some, it is expected that the technical amendment extending the time in which to submit a temporary certificate of occupancy will pass in present form or amended form. On June 23, A3213 was voted to the floor by the Assembly Appropriations Committee and on June 24, S1551 received similarly favorable treatment from the Senate Committee. he Legislature settled on A3213 which passed the Senate 35 to 3 and the Assembly 53 to 18 (6 abstentions) on June 26th. Now in the hands of Governor Christie, a conditional veto with proposed changes is anticipated as it is widely believed that the Governor is not in favor of the bill in its present form.
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