State EDA officials endorsed that part of the report that concluded the UTH incentives have worked: "From Teachers Village, in Newark, to the Gateway Transit Village, in New Brunswick, it is clear that these projects are absolutely helping to cluster economic growth around transit hubs," spokeswoman Erin Gold said in an email response to a reporter. She cited Panasonic Corp.’s decision to build its new headquarters in Newark as being based on the company’s desire to encourage employees to use mass transit. Panasonic has been awarded $100 million in UTH tax credits over 10 years.

The Good Jobs First report damned the Grow NJ part of the program and other changes as turning the tax-credit initiative into a "a very costly corporate tax giveaway with little connection to transit accessibility."

Peter Kasabach, who directs the smart-growth group New Jersey Future, agreed with the criticism of the Grow NJ program, saying it dilutes funding for transit-oriented development. Overall, however, Kasabach said the tax-credit stimulus to development in urban-transit areas had been effective.

State Sen. Raymond J. Lesniak, who sponsored programs in the legislature said, “The point is to encourage economic development everywhere in the state of New Jersey, and these tax credits are necessary to make that happen.”