Garden State Initiative will provide monthly analysis and commentary on the monthly “jobs report” issued by the New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development based on data produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
“October’s monthly jobs report showed positive gains for the Garden State economy across the board and marked the fourth consecutive month of job and workforce growth for the state. Over the longer term however, New Jersey’s labor force is still near its lowest levels in years with some industry sectors suffering compared to neighboring and competing states.”
A 12% increase in taxes? A 400% increase in state employee contributions to the pension system? A recent op-ed on Marketwatch.com offers a bleak scenario for New Jersey residents if Trenton fails to act on meaningful reform to address the state’s unfunded debt and pension and benefits crisis.
We were struck by a recent op-ed by Doug Gardner, a former New Jersey resident, in the Daily Advance newspaper of Elizabeth City in the Tarheel State. Mr. Gardner wrote in support of a ballot referendum facing North Carolina voters that will cap the state’s income tax at 7% and enshrine it in the state’s constitution. North Carolina has a maximum income tax rate of 5.49% but it’s state constitution currently permits it to go as high as 10%.
The Garden State Initiative is dedicated to making New Jersey a place where families and businesses can thrive.
We are a nonpartisan research and educational organization that offers practical free-market solutions to the state and local challenges facing New Jersey.
We work with the public, policymakers, and partners throughout the state to build a sustainable, effective economic infrastructure for today and tomorrow.
We stand with job creators big and small, entrepreneurs, and hard-working citizens to help make their voices heard in the policy debate.
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Now that Amazon has announced that its HQ2 project will not be coming to Newark, John Reitmeyer of NJ Spotlight writes that some elected officials, like Governor Murphy, suggest that it was an achievement for Brick City to even be a finalist for the massive project, as if New Jersey should be content with a participation trophy. Other elected officials see it differently as a commentary on New Jersey’s onerous corporate taxes and high cost of living.
At Garden State Initiative, we’ve researched how the state of Connecticut represents a cautionary tale for New Jersey’s leaders. In analyzing a recent report by the Cato Institute, National Review Online’s Jack Crowe, takes a look at how migration from the high-tax Nutmeg State is shaping that state’s governor’s race.
New Jersey’s unfunded pension liability continues to be the “800 pound gorilla” in the room for our state’s fiscal and economic future. As reported by John Reitmeyer in NJSpotlight.com, a recent report by S&P Global found that, although there has been some minor progress, our pension system's funding ratio is second-to-last among all U.S. states and places dead last for funding even the bare minimum of its growing pension costs.
In an op-ed published on the website of the Asbury Park Press, Peter Reinhart, director of the Kislak Real Estate Institute at Monmouth University, chair of New Jersey Future and a member of the Economic and Fiscal Policy Working Group, takes a look at Governor Phil Murphy’s calls for New Jersey to develop an “innovation economy” without addressing the state’s ongoing public employee pension and benefits crisis.
The editorial board of the Press of Atlantic City takes a look at Governor Phil Murphy’s recent announcement of an agreement with public employee unions that he estimates will save taxpayers more than $500. The Press notes, there’s more than meets the eye with this agreement and more radical reform is needed.
In an editorial that ran in the Asbury Park Press and other Gannet New Jersey newspapers, the news organization looks askance at Governor Murphy’s economic policy speech on Monday sighting a lack of attention to the state’s skyrocketing taxes, especially as the state is poised to have highest corporate taxes in the nation, and a lack of specifics surrounding his proposals. They also found great irony in the speech taking place on a date when the state’s gas tax was increasing yet again and a number of new taxes were going into effect.
The editorial board of the Press of Atlantic City calls upon Governor Phil Murphy to work with the legislature to address the possibility of cascading gasoline tax increases leading to New Jersey having the highest gasoline tax in the nation. The newspaper cites the impact that the tax has had on the competitiveness of the state’s gasoline retailers and the possibility that the tax revenue may be diverted from its intended purpose.
The editorial board of The Record was not very impressed with the agreement announced by Governor Murphy and public employee union leaders that could save taxpayers $500 million over 2 years by making adjustments to the health care benefits the state provides to public employees and retirees.
“…the state is spending $15,680 this year on health care for the average employee and $12,988 for the average retiree, according to figures from the state treasurer's office. Private-sector employers in New Jersey spend an average of $4,747 per employee for health insurance, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.”
“This is progress, yes, but it is more nibbling at the edges, when far greater steps toward a more affordable, sustainable future are in order…This is a start, but more substantive fiscal responsibility must come before it’s too late. Instead of calling the health plan changes a “win-win,” we would call it a “partial win” that will be short-lived if other substantive changes aren’t brought soon.”
In an opinion piece published in the Daily Record, Courier News and Home News Tribune, GSI’s President Regina M. Egea responded to an editorial published in those respective news outlets entitled “No, we’re not losing all the good people” that was based on a report issued by New Jersey Policy Perspective and researched by Rutgers students, that sought to downplay the flight of millennials and others from New Jersey.
In an appearance before the editorial board of the Press of Atlantic City, Senate President Steve Sweeney offered a candid assessment of the main opponents to true pension and benefit reform - public employee unions:
“He said public sector labor unions have made their pensions unsustainable and have targeted for re-election defeat leaders who have sought to fix them instead of just pouring more money into them.
Sweeney’s blunt message to the public unions now: “You’re the problem here. You gamed your pensions, you legislated your pensions, you pushed through things that shouldn’t have been done,” he said. “You didn’t pay for it and you have the gall to stand out there saying, ‘We’ve paid what we were supposed to pay.’ Not true.””
