Well, the economy and affordability were all the talk during the second day of the annual walk to Washington hosted by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

Gubernatorial candidates from the major parties laid out their vision for the Garden State's economic future with an emphasis on support for small businesses.

But candidates did spar when it came to taxes.

Senior correspondent Joanna Gagis was in Washington for the marquee event where candidates tried to stand out amid a crowded field.

The discussion today is going to be solely focused on the New Jersey economy.

And we have the having the business community enhanced to make sure our economy grows.

It's the economy, stupid.

That might as well be the campaign slogan of each of the seven gubernatorial candidates who participated in a forum this morning as part of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Walk to Washington.

We have to invest in small businesses.

We have to be an innovation economy.

We have to give credits and breaks to small businesses for hiring more workers to give them opportunity to expand from city to city.

Show me a state that doesn't have a Department of Commerce, and I'll show you a state that's perceived as not being pro-business.

And so under Governor Chatterley, we will reestablish the Department of Commerce.

Less red tape, lower taxes, more affordability, lower costs for people.

The way you reduce costs is you reduce red tape.

We need to streamline and bring that back off businesses.

We need to reduce the state income tax.

We need to have more benefits for small business EPA loans.

We need to get government out of the way.

That's the problem in New Jersey.

You've got not only the highest corporate taxes.

We have an enormous spending problem.

A business action center.

We have that I'd like to to make it more muscular, a dashboard.

So there's transparency of where you are in the permitting process.

We do have to invest in our workforce, right?

We've got the best schools in the nation, but we've got to make sure the training our students are at or receiving matches, the jobs that are needed.

If you close your eyes, you might not know whether you are listening to a Democrat or Republican because the messaging was so similar until it came to the corporate business tax and whether that should be reduced or even eliminated on day one.

We absolutely have to cut the corporate business tax.

We've got to eliminate on day one, the corporate transfer fee.

The corporate transit fee was tacked on to the state's corporate business tax in 2024 to help fund the cash strapped NJ transit system.

Democrats on the panel wouldn't disparage it.

The climate that we would need to create would be to fund our transit system.

If revenue in the state is low to a point where we can take care of ourselves, then yeah, maybe we could begin talking about reducing what the corporate business tax looks like.

No corporations, no businesses want to pay for it.

It's important that we have reliable transportation.

Taxing people out of the state is no way to raise more money for things like.

Transit.

And then there was this moment when radio talk show host Bill Fadia laid out his vision for New Jersey.

If we're going to.

Have any new departments in government, there's only one we need NJ doge.

We ought to be on the phone with Elon Musk and say, Whatever you're doing federally right now, we need to bring down folks.

This is not the forum for the booing.

Elon Musk.

Not going to be my cabinet.

I can tell you that right now.

And let me tell you why.

I am not going to bring national politics into Jersey.

Jersey is its own environment.

Speaking of the environment, Steve Sweeney today broke from his party's traditional views on energy production.

I'm going to say something.

Maybe others won't.

We need gas.

We need pipelines.

We need all the above.

We need nuclear.

You know, few years ago, they tried to shut the nuclear industry down.

Can you imagine where we would be?

It was 43% of our energy if we weren't able to keep it open.

So energy is another huge cost driver for manufacturers and businesses in the state.

And if Tuesday's Republican debate made you think these candidates couldn't be civil on a stage together.

Well, today they stayed on message and made their jabs with humor.

You're going to see tax cuts.

You're going to see family property taxes down.

You're going to see income taxes down.

It's great to have another Republican candidate on.

By the way, tonight I'm going to Democratic Party Web hosting.

Not where Doge is a lighthearted moment in what's already shaping up to be a bloody fight for New Jersey governor.

In Washington, D.C., I'm Joanna Gagis NJ.

Spotlight News.