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Totowa NJ, State Senator Kristin Corrado said Governor Murphy’s State of the State address ignored the harsh realities that impact New Jersey residents every day.
“Clearly, the Governor’s version of the State’s condition is nothing like the reality experienced by everyday New Jerseyans. Today’s address was further proof that Murphy is detached from State residents. He doesn’t understand us because he isn’t one of us.
MARCH 31, 2015, 12:55 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2015, 12:57 PM
BY DUSTIN RACIOPPI
STATE HOUSE BUREAU |
THE RECORD
State senators are looking for answers why New Jersey has become an economic island of the Northeast as the country continues to recover from the Great Recession.
On the second day of testimony by state leaders on Governor Christie’s $33.8 budget for 2016, legislators focused Tuesday on New Jersey’s lagging comeback. David Rosen, the Office of Legislative Services’ budget officer, told the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee that just five states – all in the south or west – have had a worse recovery from the economic crisis than New Jersey, while neighboring states, like New York, have had a strong rebound.
“What is it that we are doing wrong?” Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, asked Rosen.
There is no clear answer and there are a host of underlying factors, but the state’s substantial losses in the pharmaceutical and telecommunications industry — two sectors that brought enormous wealth and prosperity to the Garden State — have had a significant and long-lasting impact, Rosen said. The state is creating jobs, he said, “just at a slower pace.” The national unemployment rate, for example, is 5.5 percent, while New Jersey’s is 6.4 percent.
“It seems like we just haven’t come up with the next thing to drive the economy,” Rosen said.
In his budget analysis, Rosen noted New Jersey’s sluggish revenue growth, at an average of 2.4 percent a year since 2010. Since the end of the recession only the state’s sales tax has returned to its pre-recession peak, while gross income taxes have fallen short and corporate business taxes “remain well below the peak,” he said.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-senate-committee-examining-state-s-economic-recovery-1.1299491
Stuck on Stupid :N.J. economy not generating big bucks in state budget, lawmakers told
By Samantha Marcus | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
TRENTON — New Jersey’s mediocre economic recovery has the state Legislature’s financial analysts betting low on how much money the state will take in next year.
But that doesn’t mean there will be another big battle between the Legislature and Gov. Chris Christie’s office over revenue forecasts this year.
The nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services, known in recent years for offering a sobering take on the state’s tax collections that challenge the Christie administration’s more optimistic estimates, suggested there will be no such conflict this year.
“I am pleased that this year’s budget discussions will not feature a clash of conflicting revenue forecasts,” David Rosen, the Legislature’s budget and finance officer, told the state Assembly Budget Committee this morning. “The OLS believes the executive’s forecasts are reasonable.”