May 17,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
MONROE TOWNSHIP NJ, in an interesting turn of events Senate President Steve Sweeney today told business leaders that major changes in New Jersey’s fiscal policy and government structure are needed to make the state competitive and affordable, and vowed that the Legislature’s leadership will have the political will to make the necessary changes.
Seems that years of running the state into the ground has taken its tool ,“We cannot tax our way out of this fiscal crisis,” Senator Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said at a New Jersey Business and Industry Association forum. “The problems we face – from pensions to school funding, from health care costs to property taxes – are deep-rooted and complex, and the solutions are politically difficult. But I promise you that we will have the political will on a bipartisan basis to make the changes we need to make New Jersey competitive and affordable.”
Senator Sweeney praised the ongoing efforts of the economists, academics and tax policy experts serving on the Economic and Fiscal Policy Working Group he convened under the bipartisan leadership of Senate Budget Chair Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen), Senator Steve Oroho (R-Sussex) and Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald (D-Camden) to find solutions to the state’s long-term fiscal crisis. Assembly Budget Chair Eliana Pintor-Marin (D-Essex) and Senators Anthony Bucco Sr. (R-Morris) and Dawn Addiego (R-Burlington) are also serving on the panel.
“This initiative grew out of our concern over the impact of the federal tax law, which unfairly targets high-cost states like New Jersey by virtually eliminating the personal income tax deduction for state and local income, property and sales taxes,” said Senator Sweeney. “We are doing everything we can to reduce the impact, including developing legislation to enable S corporations, LLCs and partnerships to pay the state income tax liabilities of their owners and partners. These businesses will be able to deduct $35 billion in taxes as a result of our work.
“But we realize that it isn’t enough to just respond to the federal tax law. We have to do more – a lot more. Our panel will be coming out with a series of recommendations that will bolster our underfunded pension systems, control health care costs, hold down property taxes and ensure that government services are delivered with efficiency and cost-effectiveness at the level of government that makes the most sense.”
Senator Sweeney said the panel is undertaking a long-overdue examination of the adequacy, fairness and competitiveness of New Jersey’s state and local tax structure, and benchmarking New Jersey tax levels against other states.
“We are committed to making New Jersey competitive and affordable in order to attract jobs and businesses, bolster housing values and make our state a desirable location for millennials to create start-ups, for young families to choose to raise their children, and for senior citizens to retire.”
I have lived in NJ all my life and am self employed. My business is not limited to this state, and most of it is in other states. When I discuss the taxes and anti business attitudes of this blue state, they always wonder how anyone can survive and prosper here. I explain to them how our politicians are owned by the unions, and they hand out big salaries pensions and medical benefits that are unsustainable . They chased most of the folks out of the state who had disposable income with the estate tax. Despite it being changed to concur with federal tax amounts, it’s still unfair because unless you give money to a spouse or child, it’s taxable. I will bequeath my $$$$ to nieces and nephews , and the only way nnj can’t tax me is if I change my residence to Florida (which I will)
When the state is run by elected officials who have never run a business they are clueless. Prieto is a building inspection official , sarlo is employed by the biggest highway contractor (beneficiary of tax $$) and Sweeney is a union steelwork. Granny Weinberg thought she was the smartest one in the room and invested her money with Bernie madoff. That explains the state finances
I think Loretta Weinberg said the person overseeing her investments turned out to be a feeder to Madoff and she didn’t know. Whether that’s an excuse I cannot tell.
Well Go after the police .
I think it is too late for NJ to recover and our house will be on the market very soon. NJ offers a lot to people who have good paying jobs but the high taxes just don’t make sense unless you are using the public school system. The debt burden is out of control and while It is not right that the state has not contributed to the public pension system, the public pension system needs an overhaul. Those promises and deals the union struck were unsustainable in the long run. Begin by eliminating the pension abuse of padding in the final years, payouts for unused sick time and eliminating eligibility for part time employees. Long gone are the days when public employees’salaries where lower to compensate for delayed remuneration in the form of a generous defined pension and medical benefits.