Milanaik kicked things off by asking about the economy, namelywhat the legislature can accomplish without raising taxes. "It'sall about optimism," said Kean. "It's not a partisan problem,"added Sweeney. "We just lost our way in New Jersey, largely due tohome rule and a top heavy administration, along withoverregulation." He went on to say that the state needs to controlspending, and added that we should expect to see more cooperationbetween the legislature and Gov. Chris Christie. Sweeney alsopointed out that there needs to be a change in mindset asimprovements begin to occur. "The chatter has to change. We do havea great location, but we screwed up and taxed to death." As for theDepartment of Environmental Protection, Sweeney said, "I would loveto blow up the agency and just completely start over." He alsonoted that while the Licensed Site Professionals Act is a "greatpiece of legislation, it's still fast track light." For his part,Sweeney would like to see the approvals process move even fasterand more seamlessly.

According to DeCroce, the legislature will attempt to work withthe governor because the state is in such dire straits. "We arelosing 6,000 residents per month," he said. "And we've lost nearly$70 billion worth of wealth over the past 10 years." He alsoaddressed the DEP, saying "the governor needs to take a hard lookat the agency and hopefully scale it back." He's hopeful that Gov.Christie's red tape committee will address the DEP problem.

When asked how the state might combat its critics, Sweeney saidthat "talk is cheap." Also, "we've done okay--as screwed up as weare--so imagine what we could do if we cleaned up our act."DeCroce, meanwhile, believes that we've been going downhill eversince former Gov. Jim McGreevey demonized development. "I wanted tochoke him that day," DeCroce said. "I mean, who in the world wouldwant to move here with our property taxes?" He also said that manydrug industry companies have tried to bring employees into thestate, but none of them want to live here. "It all goes back to theDEP," he added. "The state will never get going unless we loosen upthe agency's constraints. I call it the Department of EnvironmentalPersecution." Kean agreed, noting that there's a 90% correlationbetween where a CEO wants to live and where a company is based. Headded that the Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit needs to be expanded toencompass more than nine cities.