In an op-ed published on NJ.com, Jared Walczak, the director of state policy at the Tax Foundation, takes apart the latest lawsuit filed by high tax states against the IRS on the SALT deduction cap:

“…this lawsuit may be more about posturing than law. It’s about supposedly progressive states trying to shield their high earners from the consequence of their own state tax laws, or at least about looking like they’re trying to do so. It’s a stunt in service to a shell game. Your tax dollars at work.”

NJBiz.com reports on GSI’s release of our latest Adding It All Up report focused on achieving savings in New Jersey’s infrastructure investments:

“In the report, GSI identifies three cost savings recommendations for the state: de-layering and consolidation of services; private public partnerships; and modernizing project planning, budgeting and scoring.”

On ROI-NJ.com, Emily Bader reports on GSI’s analysis of the gap between public and private sector benefit costs in the US and in New Jersey:

“Garden State Initiative on Thursday analyzed the latest employee compensation data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and found major differences in compensation costs between the public and private sectors.

In particular, GSI said government costs for pensions and medical benefits far exceeded the private sector, especially when looking at how New Jersey spends. The analysis said there’s a 50% differential in cost between the state and the rest of the U.S.”

The editorial board of the Asbury Park Press takes Governor Phil Murphy to task for allowing the arbitration cap for uniformed services to expire and sees it as an example of his indifference to taxpayers and the state’s looming fiscal crisis:

“…Murphy not only has failed to provide significant tax relief, he has done nothing to address the state’s structural financial problems, made worse by his refusal to do what is necessary to rein in public employee pension and health benefits costs. We are one recession away from a fiscal disaster.”

In an editorial, the Wall Street Journal credits New Jersey’s legislative leaders, specifically Senate President Steve Sweeney, for resisting Governor Phil Murphy’s calls for a extended “millionaire’s tax”. The Journal’s editorial board wrote:

“For a second time, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has signed a state budget without the “millionaire’s tax” he has been pitching since his 2017 election. Weary New Jerseyites can’t yet breathe a sigh of relief. But their Legislature—unlike in Illinois or Connecticut—seems to realize that it’s possible to run out of other people’s money.“

With the Fiscal Year 2020 state budget barely in the rear-view mirror, NJ Spotlight’s John Reitmeyer takes a look at the lingering issues that will impact the Fiscal Year 2021 budget, including some ominous numbers regarding the state’s public employee pension payment obligations:

“High on the list of rising costs will be another big increase in funding for the public-worker pension system. A record $3.8 billion contribution was just written into the fiscal year 2020 budget.

The contribution for the FY2021 budget is scheduled to be around $4.5 billion, and at the moment there’s no plan in place to cover that hefty increase.”

On July 1st, New Jersey’s minimum wage rose to $10 per hour, part of the state’s incremental increase to $15 per hour. NJ Spotlight’s Colleen O’Dea, included GSI’s president Regina Egea’s analysis in her report:

“For many who operate on narrow profit margins, the employer has two realistic options: reduce staff hours and headcount, or raise prices,” she (Egea) said. “We will be watching with interest the state’s employment reports in coming months to analyze the jobs numbers in the industries that employ minimum wage workers, like retail, for example.”

In an ROI-NJ’ report, Anjalee Khemlani includes GSI’s president Regina Egea’s comments in a report on Governor Phil Murphy’s signing of the state’s FY2020 budget:

“Garden State Initiative President Regina Egea applauded the bipartisanship of the budget — avoiding a shutdown of state government.

“For the first time in recent memory, widespread and bipartisan agreement that our state taxes too much determined the content of our state budget,” she said.

“Approving a budget without tax increases with yet higher spending represents a meaningful step, but leaves unfinished business in order to restore our state as a place where both parents and their children can afford to live. This incremental success must spur more bipartisan action this year to address our state’s addiction to spending. A budget that held the line on taxes in 2020 should serve as an impetus to build a 2021 budget that actually reduces spending and passes on savings to taxpayers.””

In an NJSpotlight.com op-ed, former state controller & budget director Richard Keevey, writes how Governor Murphy's push for tax increases has hijacked the conversation away from what we should be talking about - Reforming the way NJ government does business to put the state on a firm financial footing.

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.