Another reason why businesses won't come to NJ

On Monday a new law went into effect in New Jersey that will surely keep any businesses bizarrely thinking of coming to the state to think again.

The updated WARN Act became law here this week and sounds like a nice idea. It seeks to help "workers" in the state in case a business can't take it anymore and decides to cut back or shut down.

The problem with trying to help "workers" is that there will be no place to "work" if companies can't possibly justify operating here. The law guarantees employees one week of severance pay for each year they work for that company if they get laid off.

It applies to companies with more than 100 employees if more than 50 of them are laid off. It sounds like a nice idea and a noble gesture, but it's precisely one of the reasons big and medium-sized companies are reluctant to locate here.

We are already the least business-friendly state year after year. It's not only the taxes, it's the regulations and prohibitive laws that make this a bad state for business investment.

Even Shark Tank star Kevin O'Leary included New Jersey as one of the states he would avoid ever doing business in. The WARN Act is yet another warning for large and medium businesses to stay away.

Protection for workers is a noble cause. Having been the target of a layoff in the past, many of us know the struggle and challenge it can be. But through struggle and challenges is how humans learn and grow.

That's why there is little advancement and growth in places where the government has too much control.

It seems we keep ignoring the lessons of history to make sure we feel comfortable and secure. As Benjamin Franklin famously said, "Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Leftists like to say that Franklin's famous words don't apply in the 21st century. They do. The sentiment is timeless and only the weak and pandering politicians would say otherwise.

State of NJ's economy: Biggest layoffs recently

In some cases, workers may be offered back their jobs or transfers to different locations.

Here’s a look at more than a dozen of the biggest announcements within two years.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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NJ's Route 22 circa 1984 — Do you recognize these businesses?

Thanks to a new music video for a song called "Twenty Two" by the band Jacques Le Coque, some great footage has surfaced of the NJ portion of U.S. 22, a vital artery through Warren, Hunterdon, Somerset, Union, and Essex counties.