Senate Panel Endorses Measure to Create Business Tax Credit for Hiring Recovering Addicts

Senator Jean Stanfield’s legislation to help recovering substance abusers find employment cleared the Senate Economic Growth Committee today.

Senator Jean Stanfield’s legislation to help recovering substance abusers find employment cleared the Senate Economic Growth Committee. (©iStock)

Stanfield’s bipartisan bill, S-2228, would establish the Recovery Tax Credit Program to incentivize the hiring and continued employment of qualifying residents who are in recovery from substance use disorder.

“New Jersey has a responsibility to help individuals who have made the decision to get clean and have put in the work to get off drugs,” said Stanfield (R-8). “A stable job and the possibility of a brighter future is a necessary component for recovering addicts as they fight to rebuild their lives.”

The measure would provide a tax credit of up to $2,000 per qualifying employee.

Under the legislation, the Directory of the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services would be authorized to allocate up to $2 million of tax credits annually, to be credited against the corporate business tax or the gross income tax.

“Our communities benefit when we can connect former drug offenders with job opportunities. It significantly reduces recidivism and has a profound impact on recovering mindsets. Having a job can provide the extra motivation to avoid the grasp of drugs,” said Stanfield, a member of the New Jersey Reentry Corporation Advisory Committee.

In 2020, almost 84,000 people were admitted to substance abuse programs, according to the state, and 1/4th had full- or part-time jobs.

As a member of the JOBS Committee, through the New Jersey Supreme Court, Senator Stanfield is the legislative representation on the panel that brings judges, jobs creators, employers and community stakeholders together to develop programs and direct contracts that provides participants nearing release from the drug court program with jobs.