Troubles Surrounding NJ's 'Most Powerful Unelected' Man?

The Wall Street Journal called him the “power broker behind Camden’s upswing." But George Norcross has been much more than that, somebody who was once called the "second most powerful man" in New Jersey and the state's "most powerful unelected official," according to nj.com.

Norcoross has been closely alligned with most governors over the past two decades, both Democrat and Republican, a powerful insurance executive whose brother, Philip, reportedly once made major changes to legislation before it was passed, according to The New York Times.

“In the end, the McGreeveys, the Corzines, they're all going to be with me. Not because they like me, but because they have no choice,” Norcross was once recorded as saying on tape, as reported by Philadelphia magazine.

He's also a childhood friend of Senate President Steve Sweeney whose politics seem to reflect those of the so-called political boss: fiscally moderate and socially liberal. Sweeney, perhaps not so coincidentally, has often found himself at odds with Gov. Phil Murphy's more progressive agenda that includes passing a millionaire's tax, the kind of stuff that Norcross would likely oppose.

In Murphy, however, the insurance executive has encountered his stiffest challenge yet – and Norcross has become the subject of various news reports that show his influence may be shrinking, and the things he's done to build up his reputation are now being called into question. (see list of stories below).

Murphy's efforts have drawn so much ire from Norcross that he even sued the governor this week, perhaps because the so-called political boss has found himself possibly targeted in a Murphy administration probe into the state’s tax incentive programs. Norcross claims the task force doesn't have the authority to investigate the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the incentive payments doled out to projects tied to the insurance executive.

Norcross's allies have fought back, too – Sweeney, in particular. The senate president has taken harsh swipes at his fellow Democrat, Murphy, on a variety of issues and even questioned the motives surrounding an announcement that the task force on tax incentive programs made a criminal referral:

“The announcement by the task force of alleged criminal activity regarding the state's tax incentives is vague and incomplete," he said in a statement. "Everyone agrees that the public should scrutinize state spending, which is why the task force must say who is being investigated, what law was broken, and which law enforcement agency was notified."

“This task force was asked to ‘follow the facts’ and ‘get to the truth.' They should follow their own mandate and allow the public to see the truth," he said.

But Murphy's task force and various news reports may have nicked Norcross's reputation. Toward that end, Will Bunch of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote this about Camden, the city that's allegedly benefited from EDA tax-incentive projects that are allegedly tied to Norcross, the heart of the area (South Jersey) where the insurance executive wields most of his political influence:

"In recent weeks the upswing myth has been crumbling, amid rising questions about how much the apparent boom has profited Norcross, his family, and his business associates and how little of all this has aided longtime residents of one of the East Coast’s poorest cities."

Here are some other reported revelations that have been made about Norcross:

• The same Philadelphia Inquirer column made note of a "towering structure" that will house Norcross's insurance firm and questions how an office with "sprawling office-park-style parking lots with electronic gates and spiky black-metal fences" can help revitalize Camden. The column says the office tower "has been built essentially for free — thanks to a 10-year, $245 million tax break for mostly moving its 900 jobs from suburbs just a few miles away." “This is built for suburban commuters — that is a serious parking garage!” Sue Altman — a community activist, Norcross-machine critic, told Will Bunch.
• A ProPublica report this week said a law firm linked to Norcross enjoyed "extraordinary influence over the state’s tax break program, crafting new rules and regulations in hundreds of calls, meetings and messages with top officials in Trenton, newly released emails reveal." The emails were obtained by WNYC and ProPublica and show how the Norcross family machine "leveraged its access to top state officials to advance the interests of clients and friends allied with the political leader." Read more here...
• Another ProPublica report cited a state-commissioned report by researchers at Rutgers University in 2018 that found problems across New Jersey in how the tax breaks have been administered. The most pointed criticism, the report said, focused on 13 projects it dubbed “the Camden alternatives,” which it said appeared to be excessive uses of taxpayer money for limited job creation. Norcross has a link to at least nine of the 13 “Camden alternatives,” according to the WNYC-ProPublica investigation. Read more here.
• Norcross has served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Cooper Health System and Cooper University Hospital. Cooper Health was allegedly once considering a move to Philadelphia, so it was awarded nearly $40 million in tax credits to relocate to Camden, according to The New York Times. It submitted an application on Nov. 7, 2014, and stated that none of its employees were at risk of losing their jobs, according to the report, and wrote “TBD” in response to a question about whether it was considering leaving the state. "The next month, a Cooper Health executive told the state that it had located a property in Philadelphia. Four days later, the Economic Development Authority approved its tax credit submission," the report said.