By now you’ve probably seen the ads, received the mailing or read news coverage promoting the State of New Jersey’s tax amnesty program. Why would our state’s legislative leaders and chief executive agree to waive the potential recovery of additional interest, penalties and fees?
It is certainly not out of the “holiday spirit.”
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.
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.
Latest News
In analyzing the New Jersey Business & Industry Association’s annual Business Outlook Survey, the editorial board of the Press of Atlantic City cites numerous factors for the residents of South Jersey to be concerned about for the region’s economy - most originate from state government in Trenton in the form of taxes, regulation and higher labor costs.
The editorial board of the Press of Atlantic City takes a look at the recent report by S&P Global on pension and debt obligations of the 50 states and calls for action on the pension reforms suggested in the Path to Progress NJ report led by Senate President Steve Sweeney.
In an op-ed published in the Asbury Park Press, Richard F. Keevey, the former budget director and comptroller for New Jersey appointed by two governors from each political party, outlines the dire fiscal straights ahead for the Garden State and offers an endorsement of the pension and benefit reforms offered by Senate President Steve Sweeney in his working group’s Path to Progress NJ report.
If nothing is done to address New Jersey’s crippling pension and benefits liabilities there will “not be many people left” in New Jersey.
That’s the stark message the Bridgewater Courier News took away from a recent visit by New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney to the Somerset County Employer Legislative Committee where he discussed the Path to Progress NJ proposals to address New Jersey’s looming fiscal crisis.
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.
