Governor Murphy Attempts to Bribe People to Stay in the State with “Baby Bonds”

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, in a desperate effort to stem the population loss in New Jersey ,Governor Phil Murphy made headlines Tuesday, announcing a new plan to tackle “wealth disparity” by giving New Jersey newborns “baby bonds.” basically attempting to bribe people to stay in the state .

Under the proposal, the state would deposit $1,000 into the account of every child born in 2021 to a family making up to $131,000 per year.The bond would benefit three out of every four children born in New Jersey. On the child’s 18th birthday, they can withdraw the funds to pay for education, buy a house or start a business.

The proposal seems light on details , like how are they going to pay for the bonds, what happens if you move out of state and what is the guarantee that the “babies” who receive the bonds  will learn the basic personal and economic habits to make them successful and not just spend the money on flat screen TV’s and sneakers?

Administration officials said they are still working through the particulars, including where the money would be invested and how it would be managed. They pointed to a possible model in the New Jersey Secure Choice Savings Program, a state-administered individual retirement account funded through a payroll deduction that would be automatic for those in companies with 25 or more employees set to take effect next March.

Under the parameters outlined by Murphy, the program would put $1,000 into a bond or account for children born to families with an income at 500% of poverty or less, beginning with babies born Jan. 1. In a given year, an estimated 72,000 children, or about three-quarters of all born in the state, would be eligible. That income qualification limit is about $50,000 higher than the median household income in New Jersey in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The so called “baby bonds” do nothing to address the cost of living issues in New Jersey and in fact like all state programs will exacerbate those very costs through new taxes .  High taxes and high insurance payments of all kinds continue to drive the middle class out of the state a situation that will only worsen with the financial collapse of New York City in the North and Philadelphia in the South . Add the COVID induced trend of working from home and location is no longer an issue, bandwidth is.

The Ridgewood blog would suggest a far cheaper alternative, buy every child the book , Rich Dad Poor Dad  by Robert Kiyosaki and test them on the knowledge in the book as a graduation requirement for high school , the test could be made up of ,informational detail, projects and written composition.