the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi roasts the Murphy budget :
“Today was Governor Murphy’s Budget Message. On its face someone could listen and say “I support that” or “I welcome the middle class relief” being proposed. Unfortunately our true middle class will never see any of the promised items put forth today. One can just look to one of the very first statements made during the speech that NJ is finally “putting the breaks on the financial roller coaster” we have been on. This statement is surreal in light of the fact that NJ has increased spending by $6.3 BILLION in just 3 years. This represents an 18% spending increase in a 3 year period. We are doubling down on spending practices that got our state into its current fiscal mess. We keep hearing the message of Fairer and Stronger for the middle class.
Ask yourself, in the past 3 years has that extra $6.3 BILLION in spending helped you or your family?
Is your commute better or more reliable?
Are your roads pothole free?
Have your health, home or auto insurance premiums gone down?
Have your property taxes become manageable?
Are your children’s in-state college tuition’s stabilizing?
Is your housing affordable?
Have the self-proclaimed best in the nation environmental initiatives helped stop massive overdevelopment in your communities?
Have you stopped having to go out of pocket for your children’s pre-school, before-care, after-care, sports programs or other extra-curricular activities?
If the answer to the above questions are a no, ask who is benefiting from these massive spending increases. We are among the highest taxed states in the nation and for the first time since the 1970s we have our first population decreases. Why are we increasing our spending so drastically as our residents are fleeing our state? These policies have been in place for 20 years and have been proven failures. We must fund our current liabilities, cut excess spending and provide real opportunity for our middle class through apprenticeship programs, real property tax relief, fairer school funding and job opportunities.”