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The Save Jersey Blog
A few misconceptions about the 400k tax
Sam Tyler | March 17 2010
A lot of people have been griping that Christie's budget isn't fair to people because of the lack of a tax on the wealthy (we're the highest in the country for income taxes on the wealthy by the way).
Talking wealth, the Boston College study showed that 70 billion dollars in wealth either left the state or failed to be realized. This hurt (and this was the MOST important fact of the study) charitable organizations.
Taxing the wealthy has an adverse effect on both the rich (they have to pay more) and the poor (charities which used to rely on the RICH no longer get the same amount of contributions and either close or cut services).
It's very easy to rail against the wealthy but in a state and economy which is anti-innovation and anti-growth (by both design and bad luck) it’s very difficult for people to rise the wealth ladder.
Additionally, the millionaire’s tax is a band-aid for the bigger issue at hand which is uncontrolled spending at a state, county and municipal level. We have spent TOO much for TOO long and simply raising taxes on a group of people who have the inherent ability to MOVE and totally bypass that tax is bad economic policy.
Let’s say that you’re at work and your raise is going to be relatively low (if you even get one). Do you barge into your superior and demand that a coworker’s pay be taxed to pay for your raise or do you go home, open up your check book and see what you can cut to survive?
Taxes are never equal (or we’d have a fair tax system) and avoiding a millionaire’s tax will help Christie advertise the state to corporations and industries that would otherwise avoid the state. Exploding property taxes won’t help either.
Moran and Democrat’s constant cry of ‘reinstate the 400k+
tax’ rings hollow because these 'rich fat cats' have a nice little out – they are
generally people who have the ability to move their homes (property taxes) and
businesses (corporate and income taxes) to other states (oh hello Delaware or
Pennsylvania). When these people
leave, and they will if they see that the 400k tax is not one-time but rather
permanent, who gets left with the bill? Everyone left behind. Did I mention the loss of sales taxes when people move?
The liberal solution of tax now, spend now, pay later is a
comfortable road to a fiery hell. Shame on liberals for hiding behind the poor
and middle-class when they are the largest root of this problem. It's time to put down the junkie needle full of spending and start tightening the buckle. It hurts when you do it at home, and it will hurt when the state does it as well.
Moran the Moron Needs Economics Lesson
| March 17, 2010 The Star-Ledger's Tom Moran is either 1) a hack ignorant of basic economic principles, or 2) just wanted to find something negative to say about Governor Christie's bold budget address. Take your pick.
Either way, he couldn't find anything to criticize in yesterday's speech save Chris's decision to allow the one-year "millionaire tax surcharge" to expire. The tax currently applies to anyone making $400,000 annually and, it's important to note, was scheduled to terminate automatically when Jon Corzine and the Legislature initially approved it.
That all-important little wrinkle didn't stop Moran from acting like a moron anyway:
He rightly called the steady growth in government over the last 20 years a threat to the state’s economy. He slammed schools and towns for adding 11,300 new employees last year, despite the recession, a move that he called "madness." It was all satisfying stuff. The new guy was making sense.
And then he blew it. Because he stuck with his plan to cut taxes for the rich. He asked no real sacrifice from them at a time when the state needs everyone to climb out of the car and help push.
With this tax cut, he would hand out $1 billion to families who earn more than $400,000, the richest two percent.
Have you been living in the same state as the rest of us for the past decade, Tom?
How many times, Save Jerseyans, does this blog discuss the negative impact of high-income earners being driven from the Garden State by excessive property, income and business taxes? Click here to read a more thorough explanation of this troubling and ultimately very costly outward-migration pattern.
What's most aggravating is how morons like Tom Moran always forget (or never knew to begin with) that these evil "rich" people are already responsible for shouldering most of the tax burden! Forbes magazine even ran a story last month specifically signaling out New Jersey as a place that punishes entrepreneur, investors and other upwardly mobile residents:
New Jersey was one of the first states to target the rich, adopting an 8.97% rate on income over a half-million dollars in 2004. On June 29, it reclaimed its position as a leader on this front, when Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine signed a one year (2009) increase in the rate on incomes over $500,000 to 10.25%, with a 10.75% one-year rate for incomes above $1 million.
Also for one year: a new 8% bracket on income between $400,000 and $500,000.
The rich disproportionately finance the federal tax burden, too. An illustrative pie chart from Rush Limbaugh's website tells the who story:
So do you now understand, Mr. Moran, why my head explodes when you say Chris Christie "asked no real sacrifice from" the rich? They've already been paying for most of Trenton's excess, and now they're finally fed up and heading for the bridges in record numbers. You might say that the well has run dry. The rich are also taking more than just tax dollars out of state -- they're eliminating or moving the middle class and lower income level jobs that they used to create right here.
The Democrat Party's war on the rich -- epitomized by financial raids like this millionaire surcharge -- is the major reason why our state is jobless and Trenton is penniless!
Christie Budget Cuts $7.6M in Abortion Funding; Planned Parenthood Counters "Killing Saves Money!"
| March 17, 2010 Here's another reason to love your new conservative governor, Save Jerseyans!
In yesterday's budget proposal, Governor Christie elected to completely eliminate Planned Parenthood's state funding. Former Governor Jon Corzine had allocated $7.6 million to "family planning" agencies during his tenure at the helm.
New Jersey has the highest teen abortion rate of any state in the union, but guess what the sick asses over at Planned Parenthood are really worried about? Not the life and liberty of children! The Planned Parenthood people put out a release after Chris's speech defending Corzine's abortion funding as -- are you ready for this? - saving the taxpayers money. Translation: Planned Parenthood believes killing human beings is a cost saving measure for the welfare state!
The relevant portion of their stomach-churning release:
"Gov. Christie's misguided budget cuts hurt women and costs the state money. Investing in women's health is not only good policy, it helps save money. Each public dollar spent to provide family planning services saves an estimated $4 that would otherwise be spent in Medicaid related costs alone. So, for the money saved by eliminating state funding for women's health care the state will pay at least $28 million more in Medicaid expenses. It just makes no sense."
For more Planned Parenthood reality checks, Save Jerseyans, I defer to Glenn Beck and renowned investigative pro-life activist Lila Rose. They offer a chilling narrative of this evil organization's activities:
THIS MORNING: Christie on CNBC Squawk Box @ 7:30 AM, Bloomberg @ 10:05 AM
| March 17, 2010 Happy Saint Patrick's Day, New Jersey!
Fresh from yesterday's phenomenal budget address, my main man Christopher J. Christie will be making the rounds this morning to defend his game changing budget reforms.
Governor Christie will appear on CNBC’s Squawk Box at 7:30 AM, followed shortly thereafter by Bloomberg TV at 10:05 AM. As always, I'm ordering you to tune in and support the hero you voted for, Save Jerseyans! The hard work of SAVING JERSEY is just beginning. Now is the time to band together and liberate ourselves from big government's shackles!
ALERT: Governor Christie Will Answer YOUR Questions on NJ 101.5 @ 7 PM
| March 16, 2010
The budget speech is over. Everybody breathe! Now it's time for Governor Chris Christie to defend his first bold step towards restoring fiscal sanity, common sense and democratic restrain in Trenton.
Later tonight, Governor Christie will join NJ 101.5 FM’s Eric Scott in-studio for the latest installment of the always popular program "Ask The Governor." The show beings at 7 PM. Call me crazy, but I have a feeling that the phone lines will be especially crowded tonight. Make sure to call in early and voice your support for Chris's reform-oriented budget! The success of our cause -- a freer and more prosperous New Jersey -- is completely contingent on your continued participation, Save Jerseyans. Your duty didn't end on Election Day 2009...
Click here if you want to submit a question in advance. The call-in number is 1-(800) 283-1015.
NJEA: Chris Christie is a meanie!!!
Sam Tyler | March 16, 2010
Barbara Keshishian is having the worst day of her life - her entire union of thugs was called out for caring more about their own paychecks and free healthcare on TV. What's her standard solution? Hide behind our children, of course!
To wit:
Barbara Keshishian is having the worst day of her life - her entire union of thugs was called out for caring more about their own paychecks and free healthcare on TV. What's her standard solution? Hide behind our children, of course!
To wit:
"Barbara Keshishian, president of the 200,000-member New Jersey Education Association, said that Gov. Chris Christie's proposed FY2011 budget is "a disaster that would begin to dismantle the best public school system in America.""This budget is a disaster for public school children and for older students who want to further their education beyond high school," said Keshishian. "On the other hand, this budget is an unconscionable gift to those earning more than $400,000 a year. Gov. Christie is slashing education in order to pay for tax breaks for the wealthy.
"According to published reports, not only is the governor cutting nearly $1.5 billion from state education aid this year and next, but he also wants to put a stranglehold on future education spending at the state and local levels," Keshishian added, referring to proposed constitutional amendments capping state and local government spending growth at 2.5 percent per year.
"At a time when the state is facing record unemployment, he wants to lay off thousands of teachers, school employees, and college faculty and staff - adding to the problem. And at a time when education and retraining are the only hope for countless displaced workers, Gov. Christie is slamming the door of opportunity in their faces by cutting aid to our county colleges.
"What happened to his vow to cut waste, fraud, and corruption? He's gutting spending on public education, enriching the wealthy, and we're still waiting for him to address the corruption that plagues this state," Keshishian said.
"During the campaign, Chris Christie told teachers and school employees he would ‘make education a top priority.' Tomorrow, he is going to begin dismantling the best public school system in America. We will work for as long as it takes to help this governor get his priorities straight," said Keshishian."
BACKGROUND: NJEA Pulls No Punches
Gov. Christie's Budget Address
Gov. Chris Christie | March 16, 2010
I am required by our state’s constitution to submit a plan in which revenues and expenditures are in balance.
And I am required by the duty I have to the People of this state -- and by the moral obligation we all have to the generations who will follow us -- to take bold action now to reverse the direction we have taken for many years.
This is my first full budget to be presented to this legislature. And, to be frank, it represents a completely new course:
• A new course that will stop our fiscal hemorrhaging;
• A new course that will fulfill our joint responsibility to leave this state better than we found it; and
• A new course that will make possible a brighter future of growth and opportunity.
My friends, this new course is long overdue.
Today, we are fulfilling the promise of a smaller government that lives within its means. Today, we begin doing what we promised we would do. The defenders of the status quo have already begun to yell and scream. They will try to demonize me. They will seek to divide us rather than unite us. But even they know in their hearts, if not yet in their minds – it is time for a change.
Never forget, some of those shouting the loudest are the architects of the disaster we are now suffering. Do we really want another decade of economic failure? No, this spring it is time to clear away the underbrush to make room for growth.
So, today, we stop sweeping problems under the rug. We will not hide our problems until another day. And we are certainly not increasing the tax burden we place upon our people.
Today, we are taking necessary and decisive action to reduce state spending and reform state government. The problems we have hidden for twenty years are evident for all to see. The day of reckoning has arrived.
Some are saying, by their choice of policies, that we should descend further into debt and deficit, and risk driving more people out of the state with “temporary” tax increases that always turn out to be permanent.
I say we must face up to our responsibility:
• Cut government spending and end public union excesses that we can no longer afford;
• Reform government to cost less and operate better;
• And restore some sense of balance to the obligations we take on -- so that in the future they are both sensible and sustainable.
In short, we can forge a new course. One that brings spending in line with revenues. One that attacks our problems directly so they are shrinking, not growing. And most importantly, one that lays the groundwork for a better tomorrow. Today, I ask you to join me in setting out on this new course.
We did not dig the hole in which we find ourselves in a day or a year. The massive gap between our resources and our appetite has built up over twenty years. It has been dug by a lack of discipline and unwillingness to say no; made deeper by poor policy choices along the way and quick fixes to avoid tough decisions.
And now that hole is a grand canyon. The distance between New Jersey’s projected revenues for next year and the state’s spending obligations under current law, if nothing is changed, is $10.7 billion. As a percentage of the prior fiscal year’s $29 billion budget, it is a massive deficit – the largest deficit of any state in America, and the largest in our own history -- by far. No fiscal crisis we have had in New Jersey’s history compares to this one.
Therefore, our solutions must set a historic new course – directly away from the failed tax and spend policies of the past.
In recent years, we have allowed the problem to become bigger through a series of one-time gimmicks that have worsened our situation.
* This year, for example, some state employees will be given an 11% salary increase, at a cost of $300 million to the taxpayers, while many New Jerseyans are lucky to even have a job.
Incredible.
* $700 million in one-time revenues came in from granting amnesty to tax cheats in another gimmick that was used to paper over problems. As usual, our government spent it all in one year, and built that much more spending into the budget for this coming year, with no way to pay for it now or in the future.
* So too were federal stimulus funds for education irresponsibly spent all in one year – -- and then simply added into the budget, with no way to pay for it this year.
The attitude has always been the same – continue to spend, continue to borrow, and drop the catastrophic sum of all of these poor choices into the lap of the next guy. Well, time has run out. The bill has come due.
Over fifteen years, $4.7 billion was stolen by both parties from the trust fund set up for unemployment insurance benefits and spent for other purposes. The result, without action, is a crippling tax increase that will kill more jobs in a state that already has the worst unemployment in the region.
As you know, on that matter, I have proposed action to cut the punitive payroll tax increase on jobs, make benefits more reasonable, restore health to the trust fund, and prevent future raids. I ask you to pass it now.
Our unemployed fellow citizens need the bridge of compassion provided by unemployment benefits. Playing politics on what is a moderate and needed proposal to fix this system will only threaten to blow up that bridge and hurt families already in crisis. For those who stole the money in the first place, you now have the responsibility to help permanently fix the fund you bankrupted.
Over the course of two decades, time and again the State has borrowed to pay its every day bills. You wouldn’t do that in your own home, and we shouldn’t do that with your tax dollars.
The result is overwhelming. Outstanding direct debt has ballooned from $3.9 billion in 1989 to $33.9 billion last year. And total debt, including all obligations, has tripled from $17 billion to over $51 billion, just since 2002.
Our debt is equal to an obligation of $4,100 for each and every man, woman, and child in this state – 130% higher than in 2002.
These gimmicks were used; this borrowing was done, for one simple reason: government spent too much money – not only at the state level, but also at the local level.
State spending grew 59% from 2001 to 2008, before the current recession forced us to make do with less.
That is bad enough, but as you know, more than half of what the State spends every year is sent to local governments, in the form of aid for municipal government and school districts. And local government has exercised even less control. Spending at the local government level has risen 69% since 2001.
Even now, in the depths of a great economic crisis, local governments and school boards can’t hold back on the pressure that comes from the public sector unions. What is the proof? While New Jersey’s private sector lost 121,000 jobs just in 2009, New Jersey’s local governments added 11,300 new municipal and school employees. 11,300 new government employees paid for by your taxes just this last year. 11,300 new employees added while you are struggling to keep your job and pay the bills. We must give the voters the tools to stop the madness and stop it this year.
My friends, the taxpayers have paid a steep price for this lack of discipline by their state and local leaders.
The litany is well-known to everyone in this room -- and if it is not, it should be.
The per-person cost of state and local taxes has tripled in the last two decades. That’s right, on a per person basis; New Jerseyans today pay more than three times in state and local taxes than they did 20 years ago. The income growth of our citizens has not kept pace. Yet we continue to hear advocates, I am sure even after today’s speech, asking for higher taxes again – for going into your pocket one more time.
All while New Jersey residents are the most over-taxed in the country.
We have one of the highest top marginal income tax rates; the second highest sales tax rate; the sixth highest corporate tax rate; and the highest property taxes in the nation.
Add it all up, and the sad fact is that we are number one – with more state and local taxes taken as a percentage of income than any other state in America.
That is one distinction I am prepared to give up.
Some will say that we should tax our citizens more to keep up with spending growth. They have said it before. They have done it before. They will say it again today. Get ready, it will sound like this:
“We need the money,” they will say. “These are good programs”; “it’s only fair”; “we’ll only tax business, it won’t hurt you one bit”; ‘let others pay more.”
Understand one thing – the actions they will propose will raise taxes on businesses – large and small -- and kill a job market already on life support. If you are unemployed and support tax increases, be ready to stay unemployed. If you are working and support the job killing taxes that some will advocate today, you may be next to lose your job. These are the facts they will not tell you.
We have the worst unemployment in the region and the highest taxes in America, and that’s no coincidence. Is the way to fix that problem to make our taxes even higher? This has been their prescription for the last ten years and the job market in New Jersey is near death.
You changed doctors in November for this very reason – now it is time to change medicine, too. Off the temporary high that comes from higher taxes and greater spending. Back to the hard, difficult medicine of fiscal discipline, lower spending and less debt – which in your heart you know will lead to the greater long term health of our state.
If government is left unchecked, with no changes in current law, spending by the state of New Jersey is projected to be $38.4 billion in the coming fiscal year. This is outrageous. 20 years ago, when Governor Florio took office, spending was only $12 billion. If we did nothing, spending will have increased 322% in 20 years – over 16% a year, every year. That’s right, state government spending would have gone up at 4 times the rate of inflation over the last 20 years. Today, we say, stop.
The latest estimates from our department of the treasury project revenues for the year of $28.3 billion.
That’s a difference of over 10 billion dollars. To make up that deficit with taxes would require New Jersey to more than double income taxes – not just on the rich, not just on someone else, but on every single taxpayer in new jersey.
When some stand up to protest the cuts we make, ask them, would you rather double my income taxes to continue to pay for this government?
Ladies and gentlemen, I was not sent here to approve tax increases; I was sent here to veto them. And mark my words, if a tax increase is sent to my desk, I will veto it. It is time for the tax madness to end.
The point is, we have tried that route. And it has failed.
Previous administrations and legislatures have raised taxes 115 times in the last eight years alone.
Raising taxes again on the people of New Jersey, the highest taxed citizens in the country, would be insane.
In the past two years, with higher taxes, revenues have fallen, not risen.
One reason is that some people who could leave New Jersey have left the state. A recent study documented this trend. It found that from 2004 to 2008, New Jersey experienced a net outflow of wealth of $70 billion.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you tax them, they will leave.
In the past two and one-half years, New Jersey’s unemployment rate has more than doubled – from 4.4% to 9.9% --. From below the national average to above the national average.
There is a cost to all this taxing and spending. It is costing us jobs.
That price is unacceptable. I want to put New Jersey back to work.
So today, as promised, I am proposing a new course -- an entirely different course.
My budget proposes to review state government from top to bottom, and bring it under control. My budget proposes that we reform the way New Jersey government operates; and that we demand reform from the local governments we fund as well.
My budget proposes that we end the days when New Jersey is a national leader in per person taxes, per person debt, and unemployment -- and that we instead turn New Jersey into a national leader in job creation, growth, and opportunity.
The time for change has arrived, and it is time to get to work.
I became your governor just eight weeks ago with a mandate from you to do what I said I would do when I asked for the job. To cut the size of our budget and impose discipline on a government out of control. In those eight weeks I have cut $13 billion in spending. That is $1.6 billion per week; $232 million a day; $9 million an hour for every hour since I took the oath of office. This budget, full of tough and painful choices, is part of that effort and keeps faith with my pledge.
There are 2,112 line items in New Jersey’s budget and we have reviewed every one of them.
For some we recommend a cut. For some, we ask that they stay intact. For still others, we propose reform. And for those that are not essential, we recommend elimination. Due to the elimination of those unnecessary programs, there will be as many as 1,300 layoffs, beginning January 1, 2011.
In total, the budget we submit today calls for the state to spend $28.3 billion in fiscal year 2011.
It is a reduction of nearly 9% from the total amount the state spent last year. A 9% drop in one year in state spending – now that is the change we deserve.
And it is a reduction of $10.7 billion below the original budget projection for the year under current law.
It has been a difficult process to come up with spending cuts of this magnitude.
And it will not be easy to enact or implement them.
This plan requires sacrifice by all New Jerseyans. But it is a shared sacrifice. And while holding the line is difficult today, it is necessary for a better tomorrow.
The watchwords of this budget are shared sacrifice and fairness. Individuals contribute, businesses sacrifice, local governments tighten their belts, and we end our addiction to spending. Everyone comes to the center of the room – we jump off the cliff together to stave off certain fiscal death for the hope of economic salvation tomorrow.
$2.9 billion of the budget gap was closed by reforming programs to make them better and more efficient than ever before.
Every single department of state government will be reduced:
Agriculture, down 24%;
Banking, down 12%;
Children and families, down 4%;
Community affairs, down 35%;
Corrections, down 7%;
Environmental protection, down 2%;
Education, down 8%;
Health and senior services, down 6%;
Human services, down 4%;
Labor, down 6%;
Law and public safety, down 7%;
Military affairs, down 2%;
The public advocate, down 25%.
State, transportation and treasury, down 11, 3, and 39%, respectively.
Every department of state government has been asked to tighten its belt. And we will demand local governments do the same. We cannot and should not make state government shrink only to let local government expand.
$3 billion in savings results from recognizing that our pension system must be reformed before we can or should fund a broken, out of control system. The pension system has been so generous that it has created a flood of liabilities. From 2002 to 2008, pension payments to retirees grew 56%, triple the inflation rate. Our benefits are too rich, most public employees contribute too little, and the taxpayers have had enough -- enough of out of control pensions to public sector unions while they are losing their own jobs, enough of losing their homes, and then being told by the union bosses that they must pick up the tab for rich pensions at the same time.
The senate has unanimously approved a plan that is a good start and will have an immediate and material effect in beginning to reform this now unsustainable system. These bi-partisan reforms would limit participation in pension plans to full-time employees, bring a more rational approach to calculating benefits, ask both state and local employees to contribute to the cost of their health plans going forward, and cap large sick leave payments at the local level just as we do for state employees.
I congratulate Senate President Sweeney, Minority Leader Kean, and all members of the senate for moving this needed legislation forward unanimously. I had hoped the assembly would have done the same by now given the urgency of the crisis. I urge the assembly again today to act on these needed pension reforms. And I will sign these bills the moment they hit my desk.
But that is only the beginning. To fix our broken public union pension system, we must repeal the unwarranted 9% pension increase granted by republicans in 2001 but never paid for by either party. We must do it for current as well as future employees. We must make it among our most urgent work to be done.
In taking the broad and decisive action to bring this proposed budget into balance, it is important to recognize the things we did not do.
In a number of cases, we took action to protect important programs, or those that were vital for the state’s most vulnerable populations.
This budget proposes to save property tax relief for fiscal year 2011 by finally reforming the gimmick of politicians sending out rebate checks right before an election. Worse yet, this program cost over $10 million in interest every year because we borrowed the money we sent back to you in a check with the governor’s name on it. That kind of deceitful politics ends with this budget. We will send you property tax relief, after a break to reform the system, as a direct credit on your property tax bill. No checks, no games, no politicians pushing themselves into your mailbox to get the credit – just direct property tax relief on your property tax bill. The first credits will appear in May 2011, in recognition of the shared sacrifice we all must make.
We took steps to preserve New Jersey’s health-related safety net on several fronts:
First, I propose to increase funding in FY 2011 for New Jersey’s hospitals. During these difficult economic times, it is a priority to protect our hospitals and those they serve. This budget stands up for our hospitals despite all our other fiscal challenges.
Second, we must continue to fund the enrollment of all eligible children – up to 350% of the federal poverty level – in Medicaid and New Jersey family care. The health of all our children is a priority we have protected.
Third, I propose to preserve access to needed medications for our senior citizens. These medications are lifesavers for our seniors. My budget maintains program eligibility for prescription drugs.
In other areas, too, we have tried to maintain the essential even in the context of the broader need to remove the excess.
The budget maintains funding to keep New Jersey’s parks open so that struggling New Jersey families will have an affordable, in-state place to vacation this summer.
Because in dire economic times we do not believe anyone should go hungry, we have preserved funding for New Jersey’s food banks and expanded eligibility for food stamps to 185% of the poverty level.
Closing a nearly $11 billion budget gap required us to look hard at the biggest category of spending in the budget – state aid to school districts.
Last year’s state aid included over $1 billion in one shot federal stimulus money that will not return this year. This type of irresponsible use of stimulus money was a typical election year gimmick used to fool school districts and our citizens. Today, we pay the price for putting off the hard choices; school districts will have $819 million less than they had last year. These federal dollars are gone because the stewards of last year’s budget decided to spend every nickel in one year rather than spreading these resources over a number of years as the program intended.
We have worked to ensure that no school district in New Jersey will face a reduction in aid that is greater than 5% of their school budget-- so school districts will face a budget cut that is 4% less than the cut in state spending as a whole. During a crisis worsened by the election year foolishness of our predecessors, we keep school aid cuts at less than state spending cuts.
And I am also proposing legislation to finally give school districts the power they have repeatedly asked for in collective bargaining and in setting employee benefits so that they can lower the costs of their budget without affecting learning in the classroom.
Now, let’s speak candidly about the costs of our public school system. I am a product of New Jersey’s public schools and proud of it. I honor the service of good, conscientious teachers who care deeply about training the leaders of tomorrow for our state.
The leaders of the union who represent these teachers, however, have used their political muscle to set up two classes of citizens in New Jersey: those who enjoy rich public benefits and those who pay for them. That has created a system that cannot be sustained – a system fueled by mandatory dues of more than $700 a year taken out of every one of the nearly 200,000 teachers’ paychecks.
Political muscle fueled by intimidation tactics, political bullying and smears of public officials who dare to disagree. This conduct has set up an unfair system. Is it fair to have any public employees getting 4-5% salary increases every year, even when inflation is zero %, paid for by citizens struggling to survive? It is fair to have New Jersey taxpayers foot the bill for 100% of the health insurance costs of teachers and their families from the day they are hired until the day they die? Is it fair that teachers have a better, richer health plan than even state workers and pay absolutely nothing for it?
I believe rank and file teachers know this is not fair and that we can no longer afford to burden our taxpayers with these costs and runaway taxes. The union bosses will tell you, as they always have each time their empire is threatened, that they are protecting our children. This tired song has grown old and inaccurate. Is the way our children learn affected by whether the union gets free family health insurance for life for its members? Does a child learn more if the union gets 5% taxpayer funded raises every year for its members? This is nonsensical and self-serving – and we all know it.
Just how arrogant has the union gotten? By refusing to accept merit pay and use it to reward their best members, the union may have cost New Jersey $400 million in race to the top school aid from Washington. They did this in a year when they complain about budget cuts; in a year when we could truly use the money. Ask yourself, just who is putting their personal interests ahead of our children’s?
My proposal is simple: school district employees should pay for a reasonable portion of their health care costs, just like every other New Jerseyan. If we do not end this dual system, state and local government will have to raise taxes endlessly to pay for it. Teachers are not the problem, they get it. Trenton special interests are the problem and we must stand up to them.
With respect to municipal aid, I am recommending a reduction in various forms of municipal aid of $445 million, but it has been designed to minimize the effect on any one municipality. I am also ordering the department of community affairs to implement a new, disciplined, and significantly reduced program for the past recipients of special municipal aid and extraordinary aid.
No longer will we reward cities and towns who irresponsibly spend. The gravy train of this type of aid is ending. Only those who show they are cutting their budgets just as we are, and practicing transparency with the aid, will make the grade for temporary help. The message is simple: we are ending this aid, and soon, so get your act together now.
In the task of getting control of our finances and turning New Jersey around, we cannot do it alone. If we do not see spending control at the county, municipal and school board level, we will be leaving the job undone.
Today’s pain will have been suffered in vain. So, local governments and school districts must be our partners in this shared sacrifice.
Their spending growth is out of control in large part for the same reasons that state spending has grown – employee costs, health care costs, retirement costs, and a failure to set priorities while establishing reasonable means of control.
So today I am introducing in this budget a series of proposals that constitute a toolkit to protect taxpayers from property tax increases. At the same time, my plan will give local governments and school districts the tools to cut costs so they too can reduce taxes for New Jerseyans.
At its heart is proposition 2 ½ -- a constitutional amendment to cap the growth of property taxes at no more than 2 ½% per year.
In 1980, the voters in Massachusetts adopted a similar proposition, and the results were striking. While in 1977 Massachusetts had the 3rd highest property tax burden, by 2005 it had dropped to 33rd place.
Some will say this will affect the quality of children’s education. This is absolutely wrong. Massachusetts has accomplished this astonishing drop in property taxes while maintaining the #1 k-12 achievement in America.
We must take the same direction. I urge the legislature to approve this constitutional amendment and send it to the voters this November. The voters have waited too long for relief. There is no good reason to take this decision out of voters’ hands. If it is right to vote for a constitutional amendment to fund pensions, as many in this chamber support, I contend we must allow voters to vote for controlling their own property taxes.
But the state should not ask cities and towns to meet a standard that we ourselves are not willing to live up to. Accordingly, I am also proposing that this constitutional amendment cap the growth of state spending at 2 ½ percent per year.
We must also have collective bargaining reform that respects these new caps. Arbitration must be preserved for public employees who cannot strike. But arbitrators cannot act in a vacuum. We must reform the system to allow for recognition of the spending caps and an award’s impact on property taxes. Fundamental fairness to both sides requires an arbitration system – but one that is fair to all parties.
We must also have civil service reform. The heart of our proposal is that local government at every level should have the option of opting out of civil service. That tool alone will save an untold amount of taxpayer dollars and make management of our towns better and more professional.
This taxpayer’s toolkit for property tax reform is one piece of a broader reform agenda that must accompany the spending decisions we are making in this budget. Both “r” words – reduction and reform -- must be covered as we try to control spending for the long term and attack this budget deficit.
Shortly after taking office, I signed executive order 15, under which we are reviewing the hundreds of authorities, boards and commissions that populate New Jersey state government. Our goal: to consolidate or eliminate those that should not exist, and to end the excessive compensation and pension grabs made by those in this shadow government. We are asking for shared sacrifices to put our house in order – out of control authorities and commissions like the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission must learn that their days of padding their own pockets at the expense of taxpayers are over.
Part of that cleaning up should be to analyze which functions can best be performed by state employees and which by outsiders. For example, the state does not need to be in the business of running parking garages. And it does not need its own television network – New Jersey network can and will succeed as an independent not-for-profit, and we should free it to pursue that path.
Last week, I established a privatization advisory board, to be chaired by former congressman and state legislator Dick Zimmer, to examine other opportunities for saving by contracting with competent outside firms.
In the past, we’ve been insufficiently attentive to running state government smarter, cheaper, and more effectively. I am sending to you today dozens of initiatives to do just that – from using electronic benefit transfer cards instead of paper for child care payments, to cracking down on Medicaid fraud, to the simple step of using direct deposit for state employee salaries.
These are only some of the steps I am including in the proposals I am sending to you today. It is not only our spending plan for next year; it is a blueprint for reform.
Because the financial crisis in which we find ourselves, as difficult as it is to resolve today, gives us the chance to lay the foundation for a more solid future tomorrow.
We are not turning state government upside down just to solve the crisis this year. We’re doing it to reduce the chance that there will be another crisis next year.
We are not cutting spending and trying to reform our habits for the sake of being punitive to those who must change. We’re doing it for the sake of giving hope of what real change will bring -- a healthier, more affordable government, and ultimately a better life for the people of New Jersey.
Winston Churchill once said that “the pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
By that standard, I am an optimist.
I see this day, and this time, as an opportunity for New Jersey.
Even as we gather, the newspapers have reported that many of our fellow states are resorting to the techniques and tricks that have gotten New Jersey into so much trouble in the past.
In Illinois, they are raising income taxes and increasing borrowing to solve this problem. Sound familiar? Like New Jersey, they will see taxpayers leave, and revenues fall. We have been there already and feel the sting of that failed policy today.
In Maryland, they are borrowing to cover current obligations. And in doing so, they are piling one problem on top of another, reducing the creditworthiness of their state, and creating a crisis that will be larger in the future. Hey, we’ve done that already, too. Today we live with the choking debt service that this failed policy has wrought.
By taking direct, tough action, difficult as it may be, we can turn our crisis into an opportunity. In a competitive national and global economy, we can build a lead on those states. 37 of the 49 other states are electing governors this year. You know nothing tough is going to happen this year in those states.
But if we make the tough decisions now, we will be one year ahead of 80% of the states in the race to economic growth. If we fail to act, we will fall even further behind.
Surely the day of reckoning will come for these other states in the coming years. Their need to reform and restructure, like ours, is inevitable. And by going first, we can become first.
You see, my goal is for New Jersey to be the leader.
Today, we are first in tax burden. We are first in the number of college students who, once educated, leave our state. We are near the top in debt, and number one in getting the least back from Washington for every dollar we pay in taxes.
All this must change.
I said eight weeks ago that change has arrived. And today is a key day in implementing and pursuing that change.
The reforms we make today -- to streamline the operations of government; to halt the endless parade of new taxes; to lay the groundwork for growth – can make possible a new kind of leadership.
Where New Jersey is number one in new business creation.
Where New Jersey is number one in job growth.
Where New Jersey is number one in educational achievement.
And where we lead once again in providing opportunity for our citizens and pride in what we can accomplish together.
There is no question: this has been an incredibly difficult period for our state and its people.
And the choices I am asking you to make now will not be easy.
But they are the first step on the path to a brighter future.
It has been said that “the important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.”
So while the task ahead of us may not be pleasant, it is essential.
We can accomplish something important here in New Jersey --. Something big. It is nothing less than the turnaround of our state, and the creation of a brighter future for our children.
So I ask those of you in the legislature, and all of the citizens of our state, to join me -- in pitching in, in working together -- not only to share in the sacrifices we must make today, but in forging the path to a better tomorrow.
The journey starts today, and I know it will be worth the effort.
May god bless you, may god bless America, and may god continue to bless the great state of New Jersey.
FULL TEXT of the Governor's 3/16 speech:
Mr. President, Madame Speaker, members of the Senate and Assembly.
I am required by statute to report to you today on my plan for the state’s budget for fiscal year 2011.I am required by our state’s constitution to submit a plan in which revenues and expenditures are in balance.
And I am required by the duty I have to the People of this state -- and by the moral obligation we all have to the generations who will follow us -- to take bold action now to reverse the direction we have taken for many years.
This is my first full budget to be presented to this legislature. And, to be frank, it represents a completely new course:
• A new course that will stop our fiscal hemorrhaging;
• A new course that will fulfill our joint responsibility to leave this state better than we found it; and
• A new course that will make possible a brighter future of growth and opportunity.
My friends, this new course is long overdue.
Today, we are fulfilling the promise of a smaller government that lives within its means. Today, we begin doing what we promised we would do. The defenders of the status quo have already begun to yell and scream. They will try to demonize me. They will seek to divide us rather than unite us. But even they know in their hearts, if not yet in their minds – it is time for a change.
Never forget, some of those shouting the loudest are the architects of the disaster we are now suffering. Do we really want another decade of economic failure? No, this spring it is time to clear away the underbrush to make room for growth.
So, today, we stop sweeping problems under the rug. We will not hide our problems until another day. And we are certainly not increasing the tax burden we place upon our people.
Today, we are taking necessary and decisive action to reduce state spending and reform state government. The problems we have hidden for twenty years are evident for all to see. The day of reckoning has arrived.
Some are saying, by their choice of policies, that we should descend further into debt and deficit, and risk driving more people out of the state with “temporary” tax increases that always turn out to be permanent.
I say we must face up to our responsibility:
• Cut government spending and end public union excesses that we can no longer afford;
• Reform government to cost less and operate better;
• And restore some sense of balance to the obligations we take on -- so that in the future they are both sensible and sustainable.
In short, we can forge a new course. One that brings spending in line with revenues. One that attacks our problems directly so they are shrinking, not growing. And most importantly, one that lays the groundwork for a better tomorrow. Today, I ask you to join me in setting out on this new course.
We did not dig the hole in which we find ourselves in a day or a year. The massive gap between our resources and our appetite has built up over twenty years. It has been dug by a lack of discipline and unwillingness to say no; made deeper by poor policy choices along the way and quick fixes to avoid tough decisions.
And now that hole is a grand canyon. The distance between New Jersey’s projected revenues for next year and the state’s spending obligations under current law, if nothing is changed, is $10.7 billion. As a percentage of the prior fiscal year’s $29 billion budget, it is a massive deficit – the largest deficit of any state in America, and the largest in our own history -- by far. No fiscal crisis we have had in New Jersey’s history compares to this one.
Therefore, our solutions must set a historic new course – directly away from the failed tax and spend policies of the past.
In recent years, we have allowed the problem to become bigger through a series of one-time gimmicks that have worsened our situation.
* This year, for example, some state employees will be given an 11% salary increase, at a cost of $300 million to the taxpayers, while many New Jerseyans are lucky to even have a job.
Incredible.
* $700 million in one-time revenues came in from granting amnesty to tax cheats in another gimmick that was used to paper over problems. As usual, our government spent it all in one year, and built that much more spending into the budget for this coming year, with no way to pay for it now or in the future.
* So too were federal stimulus funds for education irresponsibly spent all in one year – -- and then simply added into the budget, with no way to pay for it this year.
The attitude has always been the same – continue to spend, continue to borrow, and drop the catastrophic sum of all of these poor choices into the lap of the next guy. Well, time has run out. The bill has come due.
Over fifteen years, $4.7 billion was stolen by both parties from the trust fund set up for unemployment insurance benefits and spent for other purposes. The result, without action, is a crippling tax increase that will kill more jobs in a state that already has the worst unemployment in the region.
As you know, on that matter, I have proposed action to cut the punitive payroll tax increase on jobs, make benefits more reasonable, restore health to the trust fund, and prevent future raids. I ask you to pass it now.
Our unemployed fellow citizens need the bridge of compassion provided by unemployment benefits. Playing politics on what is a moderate and needed proposal to fix this system will only threaten to blow up that bridge and hurt families already in crisis. For those who stole the money in the first place, you now have the responsibility to help permanently fix the fund you bankrupted.
Over the course of two decades, time and again the State has borrowed to pay its every day bills. You wouldn’t do that in your own home, and we shouldn’t do that with your tax dollars.
The result is overwhelming. Outstanding direct debt has ballooned from $3.9 billion in 1989 to $33.9 billion last year. And total debt, including all obligations, has tripled from $17 billion to over $51 billion, just since 2002.
Our debt is equal to an obligation of $4,100 for each and every man, woman, and child in this state – 130% higher than in 2002.
These gimmicks were used; this borrowing was done, for one simple reason: government spent too much money – not only at the state level, but also at the local level.
State spending grew 59% from 2001 to 2008, before the current recession forced us to make do with less.
That is bad enough, but as you know, more than half of what the State spends every year is sent to local governments, in the form of aid for municipal government and school districts. And local government has exercised even less control. Spending at the local government level has risen 69% since 2001.
Even now, in the depths of a great economic crisis, local governments and school boards can’t hold back on the pressure that comes from the public sector unions. What is the proof? While New Jersey’s private sector lost 121,000 jobs just in 2009, New Jersey’s local governments added 11,300 new municipal and school employees. 11,300 new government employees paid for by your taxes just this last year. 11,300 new employees added while you are struggling to keep your job and pay the bills. We must give the voters the tools to stop the madness and stop it this year.
My friends, the taxpayers have paid a steep price for this lack of discipline by their state and local leaders.
The litany is well-known to everyone in this room -- and if it is not, it should be.
The per-person cost of state and local taxes has tripled in the last two decades. That’s right, on a per person basis; New Jerseyans today pay more than three times in state and local taxes than they did 20 years ago. The income growth of our citizens has not kept pace. Yet we continue to hear advocates, I am sure even after today’s speech, asking for higher taxes again – for going into your pocket one more time.
All while New Jersey residents are the most over-taxed in the country.
We have one of the highest top marginal income tax rates; the second highest sales tax rate; the sixth highest corporate tax rate; and the highest property taxes in the nation.
Add it all up, and the sad fact is that we are number one – with more state and local taxes taken as a percentage of income than any other state in America.
That is one distinction I am prepared to give up.
Some will say that we should tax our citizens more to keep up with spending growth. They have said it before. They have done it before. They will say it again today. Get ready, it will sound like this:
“We need the money,” they will say. “These are good programs”; “it’s only fair”; “we’ll only tax business, it won’t hurt you one bit”; ‘let others pay more.”
Understand one thing – the actions they will propose will raise taxes on businesses – large and small -- and kill a job market already on life support. If you are unemployed and support tax increases, be ready to stay unemployed. If you are working and support the job killing taxes that some will advocate today, you may be next to lose your job. These are the facts they will not tell you.
We have the worst unemployment in the region and the highest taxes in America, and that’s no coincidence. Is the way to fix that problem to make our taxes even higher? This has been their prescription for the last ten years and the job market in New Jersey is near death.
You changed doctors in November for this very reason – now it is time to change medicine, too. Off the temporary high that comes from higher taxes and greater spending. Back to the hard, difficult medicine of fiscal discipline, lower spending and less debt – which in your heart you know will lead to the greater long term health of our state.
If government is left unchecked, with no changes in current law, spending by the state of New Jersey is projected to be $38.4 billion in the coming fiscal year. This is outrageous. 20 years ago, when Governor Florio took office, spending was only $12 billion. If we did nothing, spending will have increased 322% in 20 years – over 16% a year, every year. That’s right, state government spending would have gone up at 4 times the rate of inflation over the last 20 years. Today, we say, stop.
The latest estimates from our department of the treasury project revenues for the year of $28.3 billion.
That’s a difference of over 10 billion dollars. To make up that deficit with taxes would require New Jersey to more than double income taxes – not just on the rich, not just on someone else, but on every single taxpayer in new jersey.
When some stand up to protest the cuts we make, ask them, would you rather double my income taxes to continue to pay for this government?
Ladies and gentlemen, I was not sent here to approve tax increases; I was sent here to veto them. And mark my words, if a tax increase is sent to my desk, I will veto it. It is time for the tax madness to end.
The point is, we have tried that route. And it has failed.
Previous administrations and legislatures have raised taxes 115 times in the last eight years alone.
Raising taxes again on the people of New Jersey, the highest taxed citizens in the country, would be insane.
In the past two years, with higher taxes, revenues have fallen, not risen.
One reason is that some people who could leave New Jersey have left the state. A recent study documented this trend. It found that from 2004 to 2008, New Jersey experienced a net outflow of wealth of $70 billion.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you tax them, they will leave.
In the past two and one-half years, New Jersey’s unemployment rate has more than doubled – from 4.4% to 9.9% --. From below the national average to above the national average.
There is a cost to all this taxing and spending. It is costing us jobs.
That price is unacceptable. I want to put New Jersey back to work.
So today, as promised, I am proposing a new course -- an entirely different course.
My budget proposes to review state government from top to bottom, and bring it under control. My budget proposes that we reform the way New Jersey government operates; and that we demand reform from the local governments we fund as well.
My budget proposes that we end the days when New Jersey is a national leader in per person taxes, per person debt, and unemployment -- and that we instead turn New Jersey into a national leader in job creation, growth, and opportunity.
The time for change has arrived, and it is time to get to work.
I became your governor just eight weeks ago with a mandate from you to do what I said I would do when I asked for the job. To cut the size of our budget and impose discipline on a government out of control. In those eight weeks I have cut $13 billion in spending. That is $1.6 billion per week; $232 million a day; $9 million an hour for every hour since I took the oath of office. This budget, full of tough and painful choices, is part of that effort and keeps faith with my pledge.
There are 2,112 line items in New Jersey’s budget and we have reviewed every one of them.
For some we recommend a cut. For some, we ask that they stay intact. For still others, we propose reform. And for those that are not essential, we recommend elimination. Due to the elimination of those unnecessary programs, there will be as many as 1,300 layoffs, beginning January 1, 2011.
In total, the budget we submit today calls for the state to spend $28.3 billion in fiscal year 2011.
It is a reduction of nearly 9% from the total amount the state spent last year. A 9% drop in one year in state spending – now that is the change we deserve.
And it is a reduction of $10.7 billion below the original budget projection for the year under current law.
It has been a difficult process to come up with spending cuts of this magnitude.
And it will not be easy to enact or implement them.
This plan requires sacrifice by all New Jerseyans. But it is a shared sacrifice. And while holding the line is difficult today, it is necessary for a better tomorrow.
The watchwords of this budget are shared sacrifice and fairness. Individuals contribute, businesses sacrifice, local governments tighten their belts, and we end our addiction to spending. Everyone comes to the center of the room – we jump off the cliff together to stave off certain fiscal death for the hope of economic salvation tomorrow.
$2.9 billion of the budget gap was closed by reforming programs to make them better and more efficient than ever before.
Every single department of state government will be reduced:
Agriculture, down 24%;
Banking, down 12%;
Children and families, down 4%;
Community affairs, down 35%;
Corrections, down 7%;
Environmental protection, down 2%;
Education, down 8%;
Health and senior services, down 6%;
Human services, down 4%;
Labor, down 6%;
Law and public safety, down 7%;
Military affairs, down 2%;
The public advocate, down 25%.
State, transportation and treasury, down 11, 3, and 39%, respectively.
Every department of state government has been asked to tighten its belt. And we will demand local governments do the same. We cannot and should not make state government shrink only to let local government expand.
$3 billion in savings results from recognizing that our pension system must be reformed before we can or should fund a broken, out of control system. The pension system has been so generous that it has created a flood of liabilities. From 2002 to 2008, pension payments to retirees grew 56%, triple the inflation rate. Our benefits are too rich, most public employees contribute too little, and the taxpayers have had enough -- enough of out of control pensions to public sector unions while they are losing their own jobs, enough of losing their homes, and then being told by the union bosses that they must pick up the tab for rich pensions at the same time.
The senate has unanimously approved a plan that is a good start and will have an immediate and material effect in beginning to reform this now unsustainable system. These bi-partisan reforms would limit participation in pension plans to full-time employees, bring a more rational approach to calculating benefits, ask both state and local employees to contribute to the cost of their health plans going forward, and cap large sick leave payments at the local level just as we do for state employees.
I congratulate Senate President Sweeney, Minority Leader Kean, and all members of the senate for moving this needed legislation forward unanimously. I had hoped the assembly would have done the same by now given the urgency of the crisis. I urge the assembly again today to act on these needed pension reforms. And I will sign these bills the moment they hit my desk.
But that is only the beginning. To fix our broken public union pension system, we must repeal the unwarranted 9% pension increase granted by republicans in 2001 but never paid for by either party. We must do it for current as well as future employees. We must make it among our most urgent work to be done.
In taking the broad and decisive action to bring this proposed budget into balance, it is important to recognize the things we did not do.
In a number of cases, we took action to protect important programs, or those that were vital for the state’s most vulnerable populations.
This budget proposes to save property tax relief for fiscal year 2011 by finally reforming the gimmick of politicians sending out rebate checks right before an election. Worse yet, this program cost over $10 million in interest every year because we borrowed the money we sent back to you in a check with the governor’s name on it. That kind of deceitful politics ends with this budget. We will send you property tax relief, after a break to reform the system, as a direct credit on your property tax bill. No checks, no games, no politicians pushing themselves into your mailbox to get the credit – just direct property tax relief on your property tax bill. The first credits will appear in May 2011, in recognition of the shared sacrifice we all must make.
We took steps to preserve New Jersey’s health-related safety net on several fronts:
First, I propose to increase funding in FY 2011 for New Jersey’s hospitals. During these difficult economic times, it is a priority to protect our hospitals and those they serve. This budget stands up for our hospitals despite all our other fiscal challenges.
Second, we must continue to fund the enrollment of all eligible children – up to 350% of the federal poverty level – in Medicaid and New Jersey family care. The health of all our children is a priority we have protected.
Third, I propose to preserve access to needed medications for our senior citizens. These medications are lifesavers for our seniors. My budget maintains program eligibility for prescription drugs.
In other areas, too, we have tried to maintain the essential even in the context of the broader need to remove the excess.
The budget maintains funding to keep New Jersey’s parks open so that struggling New Jersey families will have an affordable, in-state place to vacation this summer.
Because in dire economic times we do not believe anyone should go hungry, we have preserved funding for New Jersey’s food banks and expanded eligibility for food stamps to 185% of the poverty level.
Closing a nearly $11 billion budget gap required us to look hard at the biggest category of spending in the budget – state aid to school districts.
Last year’s state aid included over $1 billion in one shot federal stimulus money that will not return this year. This type of irresponsible use of stimulus money was a typical election year gimmick used to fool school districts and our citizens. Today, we pay the price for putting off the hard choices; school districts will have $819 million less than they had last year. These federal dollars are gone because the stewards of last year’s budget decided to spend every nickel in one year rather than spreading these resources over a number of years as the program intended.
We have worked to ensure that no school district in New Jersey will face a reduction in aid that is greater than 5% of their school budget-- so school districts will face a budget cut that is 4% less than the cut in state spending as a whole. During a crisis worsened by the election year foolishness of our predecessors, we keep school aid cuts at less than state spending cuts.
And I am also proposing legislation to finally give school districts the power they have repeatedly asked for in collective bargaining and in setting employee benefits so that they can lower the costs of their budget without affecting learning in the classroom.
Now, let’s speak candidly about the costs of our public school system. I am a product of New Jersey’s public schools and proud of it. I honor the service of good, conscientious teachers who care deeply about training the leaders of tomorrow for our state.
The leaders of the union who represent these teachers, however, have used their political muscle to set up two classes of citizens in New Jersey: those who enjoy rich public benefits and those who pay for them. That has created a system that cannot be sustained – a system fueled by mandatory dues of more than $700 a year taken out of every one of the nearly 200,000 teachers’ paychecks.
Political muscle fueled by intimidation tactics, political bullying and smears of public officials who dare to disagree. This conduct has set up an unfair system. Is it fair to have any public employees getting 4-5% salary increases every year, even when inflation is zero %, paid for by citizens struggling to survive? It is fair to have New Jersey taxpayers foot the bill for 100% of the health insurance costs of teachers and their families from the day they are hired until the day they die? Is it fair that teachers have a better, richer health plan than even state workers and pay absolutely nothing for it?
I believe rank and file teachers know this is not fair and that we can no longer afford to burden our taxpayers with these costs and runaway taxes. The union bosses will tell you, as they always have each time their empire is threatened, that they are protecting our children. This tired song has grown old and inaccurate. Is the way our children learn affected by whether the union gets free family health insurance for life for its members? Does a child learn more if the union gets 5% taxpayer funded raises every year for its members? This is nonsensical and self-serving – and we all know it.
Just how arrogant has the union gotten? By refusing to accept merit pay and use it to reward their best members, the union may have cost New Jersey $400 million in race to the top school aid from Washington. They did this in a year when they complain about budget cuts; in a year when we could truly use the money. Ask yourself, just who is putting their personal interests ahead of our children’s?
My proposal is simple: school district employees should pay for a reasonable portion of their health care costs, just like every other New Jerseyan. If we do not end this dual system, state and local government will have to raise taxes endlessly to pay for it. Teachers are not the problem, they get it. Trenton special interests are the problem and we must stand up to them.
With respect to municipal aid, I am recommending a reduction in various forms of municipal aid of $445 million, but it has been designed to minimize the effect on any one municipality. I am also ordering the department of community affairs to implement a new, disciplined, and significantly reduced program for the past recipients of special municipal aid and extraordinary aid.
No longer will we reward cities and towns who irresponsibly spend. The gravy train of this type of aid is ending. Only those who show they are cutting their budgets just as we are, and practicing transparency with the aid, will make the grade for temporary help. The message is simple: we are ending this aid, and soon, so get your act together now.
In the task of getting control of our finances and turning New Jersey around, we cannot do it alone. If we do not see spending control at the county, municipal and school board level, we will be leaving the job undone.
Today’s pain will have been suffered in vain. So, local governments and school districts must be our partners in this shared sacrifice.
Their spending growth is out of control in large part for the same reasons that state spending has grown – employee costs, health care costs, retirement costs, and a failure to set priorities while establishing reasonable means of control.
So today I am introducing in this budget a series of proposals that constitute a toolkit to protect taxpayers from property tax increases. At the same time, my plan will give local governments and school districts the tools to cut costs so they too can reduce taxes for New Jerseyans.
At its heart is proposition 2 ½ -- a constitutional amendment to cap the growth of property taxes at no more than 2 ½% per year.
In 1980, the voters in Massachusetts adopted a similar proposition, and the results were striking. While in 1977 Massachusetts had the 3rd highest property tax burden, by 2005 it had dropped to 33rd place.
Some will say this will affect the quality of children’s education. This is absolutely wrong. Massachusetts has accomplished this astonishing drop in property taxes while maintaining the #1 k-12 achievement in America.
We must take the same direction. I urge the legislature to approve this constitutional amendment and send it to the voters this November. The voters have waited too long for relief. There is no good reason to take this decision out of voters’ hands. If it is right to vote for a constitutional amendment to fund pensions, as many in this chamber support, I contend we must allow voters to vote for controlling their own property taxes.
But the state should not ask cities and towns to meet a standard that we ourselves are not willing to live up to. Accordingly, I am also proposing that this constitutional amendment cap the growth of state spending at 2 ½ percent per year.
We must also have collective bargaining reform that respects these new caps. Arbitration must be preserved for public employees who cannot strike. But arbitrators cannot act in a vacuum. We must reform the system to allow for recognition of the spending caps and an award’s impact on property taxes. Fundamental fairness to both sides requires an arbitration system – but one that is fair to all parties.
We must also have civil service reform. The heart of our proposal is that local government at every level should have the option of opting out of civil service. That tool alone will save an untold amount of taxpayer dollars and make management of our towns better and more professional.
This taxpayer’s toolkit for property tax reform is one piece of a broader reform agenda that must accompany the spending decisions we are making in this budget. Both “r” words – reduction and reform -- must be covered as we try to control spending for the long term and attack this budget deficit.
Shortly after taking office, I signed executive order 15, under which we are reviewing the hundreds of authorities, boards and commissions that populate New Jersey state government. Our goal: to consolidate or eliminate those that should not exist, and to end the excessive compensation and pension grabs made by those in this shadow government. We are asking for shared sacrifices to put our house in order – out of control authorities and commissions like the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission must learn that their days of padding their own pockets at the expense of taxpayers are over.
Part of that cleaning up should be to analyze which functions can best be performed by state employees and which by outsiders. For example, the state does not need to be in the business of running parking garages. And it does not need its own television network – New Jersey network can and will succeed as an independent not-for-profit, and we should free it to pursue that path.
Last week, I established a privatization advisory board, to be chaired by former congressman and state legislator Dick Zimmer, to examine other opportunities for saving by contracting with competent outside firms.
In the past, we’ve been insufficiently attentive to running state government smarter, cheaper, and more effectively. I am sending to you today dozens of initiatives to do just that – from using electronic benefit transfer cards instead of paper for child care payments, to cracking down on Medicaid fraud, to the simple step of using direct deposit for state employee salaries.
These are only some of the steps I am including in the proposals I am sending to you today. It is not only our spending plan for next year; it is a blueprint for reform.
Because the financial crisis in which we find ourselves, as difficult as it is to resolve today, gives us the chance to lay the foundation for a more solid future tomorrow.
We are not turning state government upside down just to solve the crisis this year. We’re doing it to reduce the chance that there will be another crisis next year.
We are not cutting spending and trying to reform our habits for the sake of being punitive to those who must change. We’re doing it for the sake of giving hope of what real change will bring -- a healthier, more affordable government, and ultimately a better life for the people of New Jersey.
Winston Churchill once said that “the pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
By that standard, I am an optimist.
I see this day, and this time, as an opportunity for New Jersey.
Even as we gather, the newspapers have reported that many of our fellow states are resorting to the techniques and tricks that have gotten New Jersey into so much trouble in the past.
In Illinois, they are raising income taxes and increasing borrowing to solve this problem. Sound familiar? Like New Jersey, they will see taxpayers leave, and revenues fall. We have been there already and feel the sting of that failed policy today.
In Maryland, they are borrowing to cover current obligations. And in doing so, they are piling one problem on top of another, reducing the creditworthiness of their state, and creating a crisis that will be larger in the future. Hey, we’ve done that already, too. Today we live with the choking debt service that this failed policy has wrought.
By taking direct, tough action, difficult as it may be, we can turn our crisis into an opportunity. In a competitive national and global economy, we can build a lead on those states. 37 of the 49 other states are electing governors this year. You know nothing tough is going to happen this year in those states.
But if we make the tough decisions now, we will be one year ahead of 80% of the states in the race to economic growth. If we fail to act, we will fall even further behind.
Surely the day of reckoning will come for these other states in the coming years. Their need to reform and restructure, like ours, is inevitable. And by going first, we can become first.
You see, my goal is for New Jersey to be the leader.
Today, we are first in tax burden. We are first in the number of college students who, once educated, leave our state. We are near the top in debt, and number one in getting the least back from Washington for every dollar we pay in taxes.
All this must change.
I said eight weeks ago that change has arrived. And today is a key day in implementing and pursuing that change.
The reforms we make today -- to streamline the operations of government; to halt the endless parade of new taxes; to lay the groundwork for growth – can make possible a new kind of leadership.
Where New Jersey is number one in new business creation.
Where New Jersey is number one in job growth.
Where New Jersey is number one in educational achievement.
And where we lead once again in providing opportunity for our citizens and pride in what we can accomplish together.
There is no question: this has been an incredibly difficult period for our state and its people.
And the choices I am asking you to make now will not be easy.
But they are the first step on the path to a brighter future.
It has been said that “the important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.”
So while the task ahead of us may not be pleasant, it is essential.
We can accomplish something important here in New Jersey --. Something big. It is nothing less than the turnaround of our state, and the creation of a brighter future for our children.
So I ask those of you in the legislature, and all of the citizens of our state, to join me -- in pitching in, in working together -- not only to share in the sacrifices we must make today, but in forging the path to a better tomorrow.
The journey starts today, and I know it will be worth the effort.
May god bless you, may god bless America, and may god continue to bless the great state of New Jersey.
The Day of Reckoning
Sam Tyler | March 16, 2010
Well Save Jerseyans, the day is here. At 12:59pm Chris Christie will begin his descent into political hell, also known as the New Jersey budget process. We had a nice little glimpse of the out-of-touch ideology and rhetoric that the Democrats will show for, oh the next 4 years, in February when Chris Christie pretty much tipped the Golden Calf of liberalism.
This budget is reality, everyone. Simply put, we've taxed people out of the state and now we face a shortfall of tax REVENUE that means that we have to cut spending and services. This hurts everyone.
This is no different than home economics though - we've maxed out our credit cards, we've taken a pay cut and we have to stop expecting 3 nights of dinners at a fancy restaurant and front row seats at Yankees or Mets games.
The days of spend now, pay later are over and Democrats still seem to think that taxation is our only and best option.
Well if we continue increasing taxes businesses and families will move - that's tax revenue that is literally LEAVING. That is the exact reason we have an 11 BILLION shortfall.
We can no longer subsidize needles for druggies, homes for the homeless, cars for politicans, lobster dinners for principals, welfare for the lazy and waste money on administrators and political patronages. We have literally taxed ourselves into a position where people will have to lose their jobs - there is no alternative.
Does it hurt? Yes. Was it avoidable? Yes. Can we avoid it now? Probably not.
Its time for the unions to realize that New Jerseyeans abhor them - the privileges and power that they have held on to for years is gone. They can whine and clamor about the children but when families are thinking about how they are going to afford their own houses giving more money to teachers to waste rings hollow.
The unions and Democrats are so out of touch that they believe that New Jerseyeans will stay here and continue to pay out the nose for corruption and pork. New Jerseyeans won't and they elected a Governor who frankly is, yes, a bully. Christie won't punt or wimper out because he doesn't care about his political future. He's results oriented and that means his job is to try to fix the state no matter the political costs.
Does he care about education? Absolutely. Does he care about saving union jobs and spending money mindlessly? Nope.
Chris Christie is going to do the job we hired him to do. We who are about to pay, salute him.
Well Save Jerseyans, the day is here. At 12:59pm Chris Christie will begin his descent into political hell, also known as the New Jersey budget process. We had a nice little glimpse of the out-of-touch ideology and rhetoric that the Democrats will show for, oh the next 4 years, in February when Chris Christie pretty much tipped the Golden Calf of liberalism.
This budget is reality, everyone. Simply put, we've taxed people out of the state and now we face a shortfall of tax REVENUE that means that we have to cut spending and services. This hurts everyone.
This is no different than home economics though - we've maxed out our credit cards, we've taken a pay cut and we have to stop expecting 3 nights of dinners at a fancy restaurant and front row seats at Yankees or Mets games.
The days of spend now, pay later are over and Democrats still seem to think that taxation is our only and best option.
Well if we continue increasing taxes businesses and families will move - that's tax revenue that is literally LEAVING. That is the exact reason we have an 11 BILLION shortfall.
We can no longer subsidize needles for druggies, homes for the homeless, cars for politicans, lobster dinners for principals, welfare for the lazy and waste money on administrators and political patronages. We have literally taxed ourselves into a position where people will have to lose their jobs - there is no alternative.
Does it hurt? Yes. Was it avoidable? Yes. Can we avoid it now? Probably not.
Its time for the unions to realize that New Jerseyeans abhor them - the privileges and power that they have held on to for years is gone. They can whine and clamor about the children but when families are thinking about how they are going to afford their own houses giving more money to teachers to waste rings hollow.
The unions and Democrats are so out of touch that they believe that New Jerseyeans will stay here and continue to pay out the nose for corruption and pork. New Jerseyeans won't and they elected a Governor who frankly is, yes, a bully. Christie won't punt or wimper out because he doesn't care about his political future. He's results oriented and that means his job is to try to fix the state no matter the political costs.
Does he care about education? Absolutely. Does he care about saving union jobs and spending money mindlessly? Nope.
Chris Christie is going to do the job we hired him to do. We who are about to pay, salute him.
BUDGET OPEN THREAD: Special Save Jersey Briefing with Jay Webber
| March 16, 2010 After over a decade of unhealthy governance in Trenton, New Jersey finally elected Doctor Chris Christie to put the Garden State back on the road to good financial health. Unfortunately, our post-Corzine treatments aren't always going to be easy or pleasant for the patients. Today's budget speech is a prime example.
Be sure to remind every budget cut critic you encounter in the coming days and weeks that Chris Christie didn't create this mess. The voters chose him to clean it up. We all need to stay informed to save our state. Earlier today I spoke with our good friend Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-Morris), Chairman of the New Jersey Republican Party, to get a better perspective on today's events and exactly what we can expect from the Governor's first budget address. Jay is an intimidatingly intelligent guy and I'm sure you'll find his input as enlightening as I did.
So take a few moments to listen below, Save Jerseyans, and then please feel free to comment on my discussion with Assemblyman Webber as well as Governor Christie's remarks as this historic day progresses. NOTE: Beginning at 1:00 pm, viewers can watch the Governor's address streaming live at his official website (click here).
PART I: What to Expect in Today's Budget Speech and Why Eliminating Rebates Will Help Property Taxpayers
PART II: Effect of Education Aid Cuts, the Need for Structural Reforms, and How the Christie Budget Benefits State Workers
Sipprelle Needs to Explain His Donor History
| March 16, 2010 I've been pretty hard on Mike Halfacre for his "evolving" abortion-related beliefs, Save Jerseyans.
Scott Sipprelle's loyalty to the Republican cause, however, is rapidly emerging as a much more troubling issue. At first, we were told that his generous contribution to arch liberal Chuck Schumer was an isolated incident. His "my boss made me do it" excuse was bad enough, but I can (maybe) accept that an eight year old mistake doesn't necessarily define a man, even if that mistake is named "Chuck Schumer."
But what about questionable donations made just nine months ago?
In a Monday release, Halfacre CM Tom Fitzsimmons slammed Scott Sipprelle for donating to the following Democrats during the ObamaCare and Cap-and-Trade debates:
(Source: fec.gov)
The Halfacre release also point out that Sipprelle donated to the liberal Democrat mayor of his own town -- Princeton -- just three weeks after he apparently re-affiliated as Republican in 2007.
I'm starting to get a bad feeling here, Save Jerseyans.
GOP congressional candidates should be expected to consistently exercise loyalty to the Republican brand and conservative values over time. Scott Sipprelle's voter registration and campaign donor histories -- taken together -- suggest either severe ideology schizophrenia or some degree of political nihilism. Whatever the real case may be, I won't feel comfortable supporting his candidacy until these worrisome FEC facts are explained in full. How can I trust a guy to vote against ObamaCare in Washington if he donated to some of that legislation's most vocal Capitol Hill supporters?
PHOTO: The Goodwin Swearing-In Ceremony
| March 15, 2010 New Jersey's newest State Senator is hitting the ground and running in Trenton, Save Jerseyans. A photo from today's ceremony is posted below.
State Senator Tom Goodwin's (R-Hamilton) official web presence is already up and running. Please check out Tom's website at http://goodwin.senatenj.com, follow him on Twitter at @TomGoodwinNJ, and friend him on Facebook.
He's going to need your active support, folks. Note that Goodwin was sworn-in by Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester). Ironic, to say the least. Goodwin's seat will be Sweeney's first Democrat takeover target since no other Senate battles loom until 2011. It'll also be an important bellwether for future state elections. Christie performed well in this densely populated district in '09, but a large (and soon-to-be disgruntled) state worker population resides within its borders.
The Senator's likely opponent will be the current LD-14 Assemblywoman, Linda Greenstein.
NJEA Cries Poor While Buying Expensive Attack Ads
| March 15, 2010 New Jersey teachers will be happy to know that MILLIONS of dollars worth of their union dues are being spent on a high-priced smear campaign direct at the Governor of New Jersey. Sadly, this is the standard operating procedure for the state's largest teachers union. The NJEA spent $3,000,000 in Election '09 alone.
I guarantee you this, Save Jerseyans: if the NJEA invested just a fraction of the money it spends on political attack media BACK into the pension fund, then many more teachers could expect a secure retirement! Governor Christie's teacher-specific health benefit reforms would be a drop in the bucket by way of comparison.
Here's the latest misuse of your union dues, New Jersey teachers. Time to speak up and demand the truth from your leaders... and your money back, too:
Dissecting An NJEA Smear Ad:
Webber Slams Corzine's Overpaid Mouthpiece
| March 15, 2010 We've been Corzined (again), Save Jerseyans!
Josh Zeitz was the Corzine holdover transition spokesman and, since Chris Christie took office, has been Jon Corzine's chief apologist to the media. He hasn't yet missed a chance to lie about the past four years or smear Governor Christie. And the most aggravating part?
The taxpayers have been paying handsomely for him to do so!
NJGOP Chairman Jay Webber is none too pleased:
NJGOP RELEASE (3/15/10) – Citing the state’s dire fiscal condition and looming $10+ billion deficit, New Jersey Republican State Committee Chairman Jay Webber today expressed outrage at former Governor Jon Corzine’s awarding of a $26,000 pay raise to transition spokesman Josh Zeitz on his last day in office, as reported by the Star-Ledger yesterday:
“Even after his resounding rejection by New Jersey voters, Jon Corzine continues to find ways to waste taxpayer money and line the pockets of his friends. This time, it’s by awarding a $26,000 pay increase to ‘policy adviser’ Josh Zeitz – from his $115,000 salary to $141,000 – on his last day in office. Since then Zeitz, now earning a cabinet-level salary, primarily has served as a taxpayer-funded mouthpiece for an era New Jersey voters just rejected at the ballot box, and desparately are trying to forget.
“While New Jersey families continue struggling with nearly 10% unemployment and the wrecked economy Governor Corzine left in his wake, it’s unconscionable that he would authorize a $26,000 pay increase to Zeitz and authorize his subsequent conduct. Worse, Governor Corzine gave him the raise as the state faced a $2.2 billion deficit. Given that Zeitz admits his work for Governor Corzine is almost done, and that the State faces historic budget challenges, I call on Zeitz to give back the raise the Governor snuck him in the waning hours of his administration. No one else in this economy is getting a 25% pay raise, and Zeitz should be no different."
Josh "The Tool" Zeitz
Senator-Elect Goodwin Takes Office at Noon
| March 15, 2010 Councilman Tom Goodwin (R-Hamilton) will be sworn in as LD-14's State Senator at Noon today, Save Jerseyans.
The ceremony will take place in the State House's Senate Chamber. Goodwin, who won a special convention vote last week by defeating former Assemblywoman Barbara Wright, will replace former State Senator Bill Baroni in Trenton. It can truly be said that the Senator-elect is jumping straight from the frying pan into the fire, since his first full day on the job (Tuesday) will witness Governor Christie much-anticipated (or dreaded, depending on your perspective) budget address. A true "baptism by fire," if you will.
But today is a day for celebration. Congratulations and 'good luck' to the new Senator! We know he'll do right by his district and the entire Garden State.
POLL: Who Will Win the Middlesex Convention?
| March 15, 2010 A record number of Republicans will vote at next week's Middlesex County GOP Convention, Save Jerseyans. The fate of the NJ-12 congressional endorsement is undoubtedly the prime factor driving attendance. Mayor Mike Halfacre won the screening committee's favor, but early reports suggest that Scott Sipprelle's campaign is outpacing his rival's camp in the all-important war to register affiliated convention delegates.
Who do YOU think will emerge victorious on March 27th?
Vote now:
(Above) Rush Holt, stopping to smell the spending...
A Tale of Two Democrats
| March 15, 2010 What do you do when your party is headed off an electoral cliff, Save Jerseyans?
Do you stubbornly dig in, ignore popular sentiment and hope for the best? Or do you change course, spin like crazy and pray that the party leadership gives you a pass to save your own butt? Welcome to the unfolding twin dramas of Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ) and Rep. John Adler (D-NJ) respectively.
Andrews is a committed liberal who, without the benefit of upward mobility in the New Jersey Democrat Party following his failed attempt to overthrow Frank Lautenberg, decided that moving up within the Democrat Congressional power structure was a better option. That's fine work if you can get it!
Just don't "run me over," Rob. This isn't fooling anyone: the White House summit you attended was little more than staged theatre. Rahming ObamaCare through was always the plan, and you admitted it back in June '09:
John Adler, for his part, is running scared from Republican football star Jon Runyan who will formally launch his congressional campaign later this week. His district's profile makes it very, very difficult for the freshman incumbent to support the President's expensive "reforms." NJ-3 is lean Republican and deeply opposed to ObamaCare, so at least on some level, he instinctually recognizes that another "no" vote on health care would be advisable if he wants to get reelected in November. However, complicating Adler's calculus is pressure applied directly from the White House.
What's a born-again budget hawk to do? Poor confused Adler doesn't seem to know.
Just listen to the reaction Adler received this weekend at the Toms River Library town hall meeting in Ocean County. He still won't take a definite stand, but he comes right out and admits that the Senate bill is deeply flawed and that the House bill "has made things worse"... certainly sounds like a "no" vote to me, unless of course Pelosi needs the votes and starts pulling his (remaining) hair:
So which Democrat strategy is superior, Save Jerseyans?
Neither, if we're being honest. The best policy is principled opposition to big government intrusion from day one. This year, I've got a sneaking suspicion that November voters won't tolerate endless vacillation from their elected officials (sorry, John) any more than they'll suffer a politician who continues to support government's growth and expansion in our daily lives (sorry, Rob). But hey - it's their political grave, right? Let'em dig it. My advice and sympathy won't do them any good.
Over 700 Register for Middlesex GOP Convention
| March 14, 2010 The NJ-12 primary battle between Mike Halfacre and Scott Sipprelle appears to be having a major effect on registration for the Middlesex GOP Convention.
According to a tweet from last night, the Middlesex GOP is reporting over 700 registrations for their March 27th event to decide who gets the coveted "line." MoreMonmouthMusings later spoke with Chairman Leo, who places the final number of expected attendees at 761 -- double last year's turnout when Christie waged war with Lonegan for the gubernatorial nomination. That's positively epic! It's a clear sign of renewed vitality for the county organization, driven by both a competitive NJ-12 race as well as Chris Christie's November victory in the typically-Democratic county. Great to see!
For more convention information, bookmark the Middlesex GOP's webpage.
A DEEP THOUGHT: What's So Painful About Budget Cuts?
| March 13, 2010 You could call this weekend the "quiet before the storm," Save Jerseyans, were it not for the fact that New Jersey residents are already grappling with nor'easter-like conditions outside. There's no rest for the weary.
As you try to stay dry today, consider allowing your beloved Blogger-in-Chief to get something of his chest? Something's really been bothering me lately: why are New Jersey Republicans qualifying all of their budget cut commentary and accepting the liberal premise that spending reductions will necessarily translate to "pain" for our state?
Frankly, I expect to feel pretty good about life after Christie's Tuesday address!
Will public school teachers who have paid literally NOTHING towards their generous medical plans now suddenly be required to contribute meaningfully? Sure.
Will state worker unions responsible for coercing bloated pensions and salaries from taxpayers at above-market rates now have to cut back and trim their sails? Absolutely.
Will those who generally take more out of the system than they put in now find themselves responsible for more of their own financial upkeep? You bet.
So exactly which aspect of these allegedly terrible cuts will be "painful" for the average taxpayer? Beats me, Save Jerseyans! If you've been dutifully contributing to our state's fiscal maintenance as a property and/or business owner, then you have nothing to fear from Tuesday's budget speech. For you, the skies are finally clearing! If, however, you've allowed taxpayers to pay your way for the past decade or longer, then your day of reckoning has indeed arrived. Just deal with it. Taxpayers have "dealt with it" for years. Now it's finally time to distribute the tax burden fairly. The producing class can't afford to carry the government class on its back any longer.
And guess what? My outlook doesn't reflect a minority viewpoint anymore. That same sentiment carried Governor Chris Christie into office in November. I lived it, just like many of you who were battling in the trenches as voters were making their decisions. Hence, those fools whining about budget cuts represent an entitled minority who never supported Chris to begin with. Let'em scream, Republican leaders! And don't forget that Tuesday shouldn't be a "sad" day at all. Quite to the contrary, it should be represented as a glorious day for taxpayers! We're finally going to take an affirmative step towards returning government to the people. Isn't that what getting Chris elected was always about?
I promise you this, Save Jerseyans: if Republicans adopt a more positive attitude about the Governor's budget cuts, the voters will once again recognize that downsizing government in the interest of affordable and accountable governance is an act worth endorsing with their votes! Take it to the bank...
A904 Needs Amending
| March 12, 2010 The following is an important message from our good friend Marie Tasy, Executive Director of New Jersey Right to Life, Save Jersey:
Yesterday, the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee held a hearing on A904, a Bill sponsored by Democrat Assembly members. Prime sponsors are Upendra Chivukula (D-17), Joseph Egan (D-17), Linda Greenstein (D-14), Pamela Lampitt (D-6). The bill would establish an innovation zone program to stimulate technology industry clusters aroud New Jersey's Research Universities, Colleges or Research Hospitals. I testified before the committee in opposition to the bill because I feel it may be a stealth campaign to circumvent the will of NJ voters to fund Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research. I pointed out that this bill calls for "innnovation zones" to be created in Camden, Newark City and Greater New Brunswick - which is the exact same locations where former Governor Corzine and former Assemblyman Neil Cohen tried to build Stem Cell Institutes before the voters wisely rejected their scheme. I also reminded the Committee that the voters spoke loudly and clearly in 2007 that they did not want to fund Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research.The legislation grants very broad powers to the Economic Development Authority and Commission on Science and Technology "to call upon any department, authority, commission, board, office, division or agency of the State to provide such information, resources or other assistance deemed necessary . . ." The departments include, but are not limited to the Department of Treasury with the Business Incentive Program, the Tecnology Tax Certificate Transfer Program and other technology funding programs.The bill also says, the goal of the innovation zones program is to "attract high technology business and research scientists to these defined areas, where proximity to research universities and colleges and resarch hospitals will increase collaborative research . . ." The bill goes on to say that the innovation zones will "encourage the more rapid transfer of discoveries from New Jersey's laboratories to the marketplace;" and "will require focusing of resources on geographic areas where research clusters presently exist or have the potential to form because of the location of the research universities and colleges or research hospitals,"It is important to note that "geographic areas where research clusters already exist" include Rutgers and UMDNJ in New Brunswick and Piscataway (which is considered Greater New Brunswick). Rutgers and UMDNJ established a partnership to form the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey on Rutgers Campus a few years ago. Under the Codey and Corzine adminsitrations, both of these entities were allocated a disproportionate share of stem cell grants from the Commission on Science and Technology to specifically perform research on human embryonic stem cells so it is certainly feasible that this bill is a stealth attempt to do an end run around the voters to fund human embryonic stem cell research.We asked the committee to add an amendment that would specifically prohibit any funding of HESCR under the scope of the bill to ensure the will of NJ voters would be honored. Assemblywoman Alison McHose (R-24) and Assemblyman Anthony Bucco (R-25) supported our efforts and offered an amendment to this effect but it did not pass. They also prepared a Minority Statement voting against reporting the bill favorably and urged that an amendment be added to the bill which would address our concerns.For News coverage of the hearing and to learn more about our attempt to add an amendment, please click hereAction Needed:Please call and email your two State Assembly Members and State Senator as soon as possible. Call 1-800-792-8630 to find out the names and contact information for your three legislators.Click here to go to the NJ legislature's webpage: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/legsearch.aspAlso call, fax and email Governor Christie. Phone: 609 292-6000, Fax 609 292-3454, To email link the Governor, go to link below and choose "Commerce" from the drop down topic menu on the page:
