New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on February 5, 2015, vetoed a package of five bills that would have required public agencies and their contractors to buy USA-made products and raw materials when possible.
What the bills would have done
The package included S-1811, S-2045, S-2048, S-2061 and S-2062. The broadest bill, S-1811, would have required vendors to public agencies, including public colleges and universities, to use USA-made products and raw materials on contracts. Vendors could get waivers if goods were not available domestically or if USA-made goods cost at least 20% more than foreign ones.
New Jersey law already required USA-made goods to be bought “where possible” for public works, local public contracts, state construction and local school contracts. The package would have expanded and strengthened those rules and required public notice of waivers.
The other four bills would have applied similar rules to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Delaware River Port Authority, the Delaware River and Bay Authority, and the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission. Neighboring states would also have had to pass matching laws for those rules to apply.
Why Christie vetoed them
Christie said the bills would discourage international companies from locating in New Jersey and add reporting burdens. “Rather than helping Americans, these bills will simply drive up the price of doing business, and threaten job creation,” he wrote.
The New Jersey Business and Industry Association backed the veto. Its president, Michele Siekerka, said the bill “would not have worked in New Jersey, given the global supply chain.”
Supporters’ reaction
Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a sponsor, called the veto “a lost opportunity to help create jobs and to support domestic businesses.” New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech said the bills “would have strengthened Buy American legislation already on the books.”
Later in 2015, members of Congress pushed similar Buy America rules for federal transportation projects (our coverage).
Source & credit
Source: NJ.com: “Christie vetoes N.J. ‘Buy American’ legislation”, February 5, 2015.
Additional sources: Observer/PolitickerNJ: “Sweeney laments Christie’s veto of ‘Made in America’ bills”, February 5, 2015; CBS Philadelphia: “Christie Vetoes Bills Requiring Public Contractors Use American-Made Products In NJ”, February 6, 2015.