Photo by Hanson Lu on Unsplash
A quiet session in New Jersey has turned into a tax-and-spend nightmare as Democrat leadership under new Governor Mikie Sherrill reveal the plans they have been scheming up behind the scenes.
After a last-minute surprise budget, revealed on a late Sunday night, included further hits to New Jersey pocketbooks, lawmakers are not done…
The Assembly just advanced a data company regulation bill that was mutated at the last second to include an outrageous tax increase.
The bill will impose a massive $1.5 million fee on data broker firms that are behind apps and retail discount programs offered by stores. These are mandatory registration fees, that go alongside a regime that requires opt-out and deletion mechanisms, data breach history, whether they hold data on minors, and now also the identity of any processors handling data on their behalf. The bill also places absolute limits on what kind of data can be sold
Even supporters of the misguided registration policies in the original should admit their bill was hijacked and turned into a money grab.
This dangerous scheme would affect every industry that operates in the state in some way, as they all collect data or work with data brokers. The full ramifications go far beyond what proponents of the bill claim.
New Jersey Assembly Republicans, led by Taxpayer Protection Pledge-signer John DiMaio, called out this disaster:
A Democrat-backed bill (A5328) just passed, 53-21, charging data brokers up to $1.5 million a year in registration fees just to operate in New Jersey.
For comparison: Texas charges $300.
Opposed by the NJBIA, the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association, and the New Jersey Food…— NJ Assembly GOP (@NJAssemblyGOP) June 30, 2026
Again, the $1.5 million fee has nothing to do with violating a provision of the bill, it is not punishing breaking the rules, it is punishing companies for operating in New Jersey.
On top of the highest corporate tax rate in the nation, and additional attacks on business in the new budget, this would manage to make the most business unfriendly state in the nation even more hostile. The state is not content to limit its damage internally, it is engaging in lawsuits to extend its authority to impose corporate taxes to companies who simply have customers in New Jersey, not a physical presence. This effort to destroy interstate tax barriers shows how aggressive New Jersey has become about ensnaring anyone it can in its uncompetitive tax system.
Other fees include: $2,500/day for failing to register or update required disclosures; and $50,000 per record for selling or licensing sensitive data in violation of the act — a substantial per-violation exposure given that data sales often involve large volumes of records.
The bill is heading to the Senate where legislators have another chance to put the breaks on this cynical, sneaky money grab.
At the same time, the Assembly moved A4085 which limits use of consumer data to provide discounts while shopping. Loyalty programs are being attacked at a time when affordability is the top concern, and largely what Gov. Sherrill campaigned on.
