New Jersey companies that were given tax breaks, along with top executives and attorneys linked to those companies, provided $1.7 million to a powerful super PAC tied to one of the state's most influential political power brokers.

Nearly all of that — $1.6 million — came in the form of loans from people linked to Camden projects, and much of it came during a key election year, according to a USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey review of filings from the Internal Revenue Service, the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission and the Center for Responsive Politics.

The 527 political organization, called General Majority PAC, is one of the first groups of its kind to spend heavily in states to elect Democrats to office. South Jersey Democratic power broker George E. Norcross III raises money for the group and has significant relationships with its backers and the candidates it supports.

These contributions make up a fraction of the close to $30 million General Majority has taken in since its founding in 2013. But during the competitive 2017 elections, when the governor and all 120 legislative seats were on the ballot, the contributions and loans from officials and companies that were awarded state tax breaks consisted of about 20 percent of all the funds the group received that year, according to ELEC data.

During that time, General Majority gave more than $2 million to a group that boosted Senate President Stephen Sweeney's reelection race against Republican Fran Grenier, as Sweeney faced millions of dollars of negative messaging from the state's most powerful union, the New Jersey Education Association.

"Unlike Gov. Murphy — who is featured in glowing ads that appear to be funded with millions of dollars of the New Jersey Education Association's money at the same time it is seeking major legislation he'd need to approve — George Norcross doesn't have any ability to approve any government expenditure, tax incentive, grant or legislation," said Daniel Fee, a spokesman for Norcross. "The donors you identified have been active and generous supporters of the Democratic Party for years, and it's not a surprise they'd support the election of Democrats to the Legislature."

Hover your mouse over the left-hand names to see how much each person lent General Majority PAC, and on the right to learn how much the super PAC repaid them.

Taxpayer-funded tax incentives doled out by the Economic Development Authority are at the heart of an escalating conflict in Trenton, essentially stalling the governor's agenda and taking attention away from legislative priorities such as enacting a millionaires tax or legalizing weed, an effort the Legislature will punt to the voters.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy created a task force to investigate the agency that approved nearly $11 billion in awards over 13 years to New Jersey companies to keep them in-state after a scathing state comptroller report said the agency lacked processes to ensure that those businesses created or kept the jobs they had promised in order to win the awards.

Of the $1.6 billion worth of tax breaks approved since 2013, when the tax incentive program was overhauled, $1.1 billion in incentives were awarded to companies connected to Norcross, an insurance executive who does not hold elected office, a ProPublica and WNYC investigation found.

The news outlets also reported that an attorney named Kevin Sheehan edited late drafts of the Economic Opportunity Act, which created the current tax incentives, and communicated with top officials in the governor's office and the EDA nearly every day. Sheehan works for the law firm Parker McCay, where Norcross' brother, Philip, is CEO.

Norcross and companies connected to him that secured tax breaks filed a lawsuit against Murphy and the task force last week, saying they have been "falsely and publicly accused of misconduct" and denied the chance to rebut the allegations.

The task force heard sworn testimony in May that raised questions about the validity of statements submitted in applications to the EDA by the Norcross-linked companies.

The plaintiffs in the suit include Norcross; his insurance firm, Conner Strong & Buckelew; Cooper University Health Care, where Norcross is board chairman; the law firm Parker McCay, which represented companies applying for tax breaks and is run by Norcross' brother; and NFI and The Michaels Organization, companies that won tax incentives and agreed to share office space in Camden with Norcross' insurance firm.

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Links to General Majority

The executives and lawyers at companies with tax incentives that supported General Majority include:

Holtec International, a nuclear parts manufacturer, won the second-largest tax break of $260 million. Holtec's CEO and founder, Krishna Singh , lent General Majority $250,000. He is still owed more than $138,000. Holtec International also directly donated $25,000 to the PAC. Holtec did not respond to requests for comment.

, lent General Majority $250,000. He is still owed more than $138,000. also directly donated $25,000 to the PAC. Holtec did not respond to requests for comment. The brother of George Norcross, Philip Norcross, is CEO of the law firm Parker McCay, which represents Holtec International. Philip lent General Majority $350,000. The committee still owes Norcross $138,000. Phil Norcross declined to comment.

is CEO of the law firm Parker McCay, which represents Holtec International. Philip lent General Majority $350,000. The committee still owes Norcross $138,000. Phil Norcross declined to comment. The EDA awarded the transportation logistics company NFI $79 million in tax incentives. NFI's president, Jeffrey Brown , and CEO Sidney Brown each lent the group $250,000, and Sidney contributed an additional $2,500. The Browns are still owed $138,000 each. NFI did not respond to requests for comment.

, and CEO each lent the group $250,000, and Sidney contributed an additional $2,500. The Browns are still owed $138,000 each. NFI did not respond to requests for comment. William Tambussi is representing George Norcross and three companies that were awarded tax incentives, Conner Strong, Michael's Organization and NFI, in the suit against Murphy and his task force. Tambussi donated $50,000 to General Majority, and his firm, William Tambussi Brown and Connery LLP, lent the group $500,000. General Majority still owes the firm $138,000. Tambussi is listed as one of General Majority's directors on a recent IRS filing.Tambussi did not respond to requests for comment.

Companies and executives also made direct donations that didn't need to be paid back. Honeywell International won a $40 million tax credit in 2013 to stay in New Jersey for 15 years. Five years later, the conglomerate moved its headquarters from Morris Plains to Charlotte, North Carolina. The company had received $8 million of the incentives for the jobs it created in 2015 and 2016. Honeywell donated $15,000 to General Majority.

"Honeywell’s contribution to the General Majority PAC was for activities associated with the 2016 Democratic Convention and was not used for any other purpose," said Victoria Streitfeld, director of communications for Honeywell.

Bayada Home Health Care and its PAC contributed $7,500 to the committee. The health care services company won $18.4 million in incentives to consolidate offices across the state into an office in Pennsauken Township in Camden County. Bayada's communications manager, Lori Bookbinder, said the PAC is no longer active and that Bayada had no comment.

Other individuals and companies likely paid the $2,500 check to attend a fundraiser for the super PAC, such as employees of Cooper Health System, where George Norcross is the executive chairman of the board of trustees. Cooper was awarded almost $40 million in tax breaks.

Herbert Stern, who is representing Cooper University Health Care in the suit against Murphy, gave General Majority $2,500. Cooper University Health Care CEO Adrienne Kirby and Generosa Grana, director of Cooper's cancer center, gave $2,500 each.

“Cooper University Health Care does not participate directly or indirectly in political activity. Cooper would have no knowledge of any political contributions made by employees in their individual capacities,” said Thomas Rubino, Cooper's senior vice president of communications and marketing.

What is General Majority?

In 2013, former staffers to retired U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid created a group called Fund for Jobs, Growth and Security, later renamed General Majority, billing itself as the first nationwide super PAC aiming to elect Democratic state lawmakers. Reid's former chief of staff, Susan McCue, is the president of the organization.

General Majority played a major role in making sure the controversial 2010 Supreme Court case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which allowed unlimited spending in elections by corporations and unions, was applied at the state level.

The group filed lawsuits to enforce the Citizens United decision in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, states that hadn't changed their election laws to permit the activity of super PACs, vehicles that can accept unlimited funds from any U.S. source. General Majority sued the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission in 2013 over a rule that limited to $7,200 the amount someone could donate to a group.

After General Majority secured approval to raise unlimited amounts of money as long as it didn't coordinate with candidates, it spent $8 million in the 2013 elections. Democrats held on to their majority in the state Legislature, despite Republican Gov. Chris Christie's winning re-election. "We made sure that the governor had no coattails," Jonathan Levy, the group's executive director, said to Politico after the election.

The group is stacked with notable Democratic political players, such as Sean Kennedy, who is on the board of directors and is also a commissioner on the Burlington County Board of Taxation. Treasurer Patricia Mueller is the founder and CEO of political firm Groundwork Strategies and served as the political director for the labor union Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters. The former treasurer and director, J.B. Poersch, is the president of Senate Majority PAC, the powerful federal super PAC that spends millions to elect Democrats to office.

Most of General Majority's top donors historically have been unions, such as the New Jersey Education Association, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The super PAC has also received checks from notable millionaires, including $500,000 from businesswoman and Walmart heiress Alice Walton, $200,000 from philanthropist John Arnold and $100,000 from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.

George Norcross has hosted multiple $2,500-a-head fundraisers for the super PAC honoring Sweeney at the Westin Mount Laurel Grand Ballroom. In 2017, he also lent $200,000 to a 527 political organization called New Jerseyans for a Better Tomorrow, a pro-Sweeney group that donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to General Majority.

In Sweeney's tight re-election race in 2017, General Majority PAC contributed more than $2.6 million to New Jerseyans for a Better Tomorrow, which helped fund that group's more than $5 million in messaging that backed Sweeney, according to an ELEC analysis.

That year, General Majority PAC also paid the firm The Campaign Group more than $800,000 for television advertising, more than $200,000 to Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for polling and close to $130,000 to Kennedy Communications for direct mail, according to IRS filings analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics. The super PAC also paid interest on a 2016 loan from WWB Holdings. WWB Holdings owns media site PhillyVoice, where George Norcross' daughter, Lexie Norcross, is founder and CEO.

The super PAC paid for TV, radio and mail ads to boost Democratic Assemblymen John Armato and Vince Mazzeo in the 2nd Legislative District.

General Majority spent most of 2018 partially repaying its loans to Philip Norcross, Singh, Tambussi and the Browns. It also donated $50,000 to Middle Class PAC, a super PAC backing Rich Lazer, a Democrat who lost his primary in Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional District. Lazer is the deputy mayor of labor of Philadelphia.

General Majority also paid RP Consulting for fundraising and consulting services, George Norcross' brother's firm, Parker McCay, for legal services and George Norcross' firm, Conner Strong and Buckelew, for an insurance expense.

The super PAC has an affiliated 501(c)4 social welfare nonprofit called General Growth Fund that is currently not required to disclose its donors. Murphy vetoed a bill earlier this month that would have required nonprofits like General Growth Fund to report the people, corporations and unions that support it.