Milanaik kicked things off by asking about the economy, namely what the legislature can accomplish without raising taxes. "It's all about optimism," said Kean. "It's not a partisan problem," added Sweeney. "We just lost our way in New Jersey, largely due to home rule and a top heavy administration, along with overregulation." He went on to say that the state needs to control spending, and added that we should expect to see more cooperation between the legislature and Gov. Chris Christie. Sweeney also pointed out that there needs to be a change in mindset as improvements begin to occur. "The chatter has to change. We do have a great location, but we screwed up and taxed to death." As for the Department of Environmental Protection, Sweeney said, "I would love to blow up the agency and just completely start over." He also noted that while the Licensed Site Professionals Act is a "great piece of legislation, it's still fast track light." For his part, Sweeney would like to see the approvals process move even faster and more seamlessly.

According to DeCroce, the legislature will attempt to work with the governor because the state is in such dire straits. "We are losing 6,000 residents per month," he said. "And we've lost nearly $70 billion worth of wealth over the past 10 years." He also addressed the DEP, saying "the governor needs to take a hard look at 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 said that "talk is cheap." Also, "we've done okay--as screwed up as we are--so imagine what we could do if we cleaned up our act." DeCroce, meanwhile, believes that we've been going downhill ever since former Gov. Jim McGreevey demonized development. "I wanted to choke him that day," DeCroce said. "I mean, who in the world would want to move here with our property taxes?" He also said that many drug industry companies have tried to bring employees into the state, but none of them want to live here. "It all goes back to the DEP," he added. "The state will never get going unless we loosen up the agency's constraints. I call it the Department of Environmental Persecution." Kean agreed, noting that there's a 90% correlation between where a CEO wants to live and where a company is based. He added that the Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit needs to be expanded to encompass more than nine cities.