In an op-ed published on NJ.com, GSI’s president Regina M. Egea, writes about Governor Phil Murphy’s latest tax proposal - an assessment on companies who manufacture pain management medications and how that cost will passed on to patients, while doing nothing to address the state’s opioid crisis:
“No matter how the governor’s office tries to frame his proposal to legislators and the public, let’s call this what it is: a tax increase on patients who use legitimately prescribed medications for managing their diseases and chronic pain.”
“Our state is continuing to follow the positive national trend of adding jobs to the economy,” said Garden State Initiative President Regina M. Egea. “However, the stagnation in our workforce size and significant losses in the Financial Activities sector, which in prior years has led our growth, remain cause for concern going forward.”
GSI’s president Regina M. Egea offered commentary on today’s release of April revenue collections and revised revenue projections released today by the Department of the Treasury:
“Record revenue collections should not present an opportunity to look for more tax increases, but rather an opportunity to get our state back on the road to prosperity .”
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Latest News
Legislative leaders plan to introduce a budget proposal that omits every tax increase the Governor Murphy has been seeking according to a report on NJ.com from statehouse reporters Samantha Marcus and Brent Johnson. Specifically, the plan rejects Murphy’s so-called “Millionaire’s Tax” and “Corporate Responsibility Tax” along with an increase to fees on gun permits and the tax on ammunition.
In an opinion piece that appeared in the Asbury Park Press, the newspaper’s Opinion Editor Randy Bergman called on New Jersey residents frustrated by high taxes to make their voices hard by aggressively calling on state leaders to take action that will lead to real reforms in the state.
As Governor Phil Murphy aggressively lobby’s for another tax increase, this time an expansion of the so-called “Millionaire’s Tax”, a new analysis by Bloomberg News found that the Garden State is among the top 3 states in outmigration of wealth. Last year, New Jersey saw a net exodus of $3.4 billion in wealth, ranking only behind fellow high-tax states, New York and Illinois.
A new report from Moody’s finds that New Jersey is one of 2 states, the other being Illinois, ill-prepared financially for a future recession citing pension liabilities and budget reserves. John Reitmeyer of NJ Spotlight writes on the policy implications for New Jersey as the state enters the pivotal stage of budget negotiations for FY 2020.
CNBC has rated New Jersey’s cost of doing business as worst in the nation. In an op-ed in ROI-NJ, the president of Trenton-based Tektite Industries writes that New Jersey’s cost of doing business, driven by taxes and new government mandates, may drive his company to relocate across the river to Delaware.
GSI’s president Regina M. Egea was quoted by ROI-NJ’s Anjalee Khemlani in a report on the State Treasurer’s April revenue report:
“New Jersey has an opportunity to get on the more competitive track by limiting government spending and investing in what grows our economy not grows our government burden even further. Record revenue collections should not present an opportunity to look for more tax increases, but rather an opportunity to get our state back on the road to prosperity.”
As the state legislature and Governor Murphy work towards enacting a state budget by a June 30th deadline, the editorial board of the Press of Atlantic City calls for an agreement that reflects the perilous reality of the state’s fiscal health:
“New Jersey’s financial problems demand solutions, and these are reasonable given the hole the state is in. Credit-rating agency S&P Global says the state has the second worst pension funding ratio in the nation and is dead last in making progress toward funding even the bare minimum of its growing pension costs.
Gov. Murphy’s approach would dodge the fiscal bullet and increase spending further beyond what’s sustainable. That’s just digging the hole deeper.
Sweeney and the Economic and Fiscal Policy Workgroup want state government to face reality and start regaining the strength to serve the interests of the public. Sooner or later that must happen, and since later is just more painful, starting with the new budget is in everyone’s interest.”
In an opinion piece published in the New York Post, Steven Malanga of the Manhattan Institute writes on how “blue states” are continuing to sink in red ink even as the national economy is booming:
“…states face big obstacles to continued recovery. Short of cash, many states spent more than they took in for years, piling up debt or using financial gimmicks to paper over deficits. One recent study found that, stretching back to before the Great Recession, 10 states have consistently spent more than they collected — including New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and New York.”
In a sobering op-ed in the Asbury Park Press, Ralph Albert Thomas, CEO and executive director of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants, writes on the advice his members are giving the state’s residents and businesses:
“…a recent NJCPA member survey found that 75 percent of CPAs have advised some clients to relocate their homes or businesses out of New Jersey in order to reduce their tax burden.
New Jersey must break its destructive tax-and-spend habit by addressing the structural imbalances in its budget in order to put the state on sounder financial footing.”
In a riveting opinion piece published on NJ.com, North Plainfield resident Philip Perinelli makes a statement that thousands of longtime Garden State residents are saying each year: This is why I’m leaving New Jersey.
“…the bitterness would stay with me and increase year after year, as I watch my taxes inexorably increase and my quality of life move in the opposite direction.”
