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
