NJSpotlight.com’s John Reitmeyer reports on the latest report in GSI’s series on the true cost of New Jersey’s government and opportunities for savings: Adding It All Up: New Jersey’s Opportunity to Reduce $200 Million in School Transportation Costs:

“taxpayers could see annual savings of as much as $146 million with better use of technology and more consolidation of student bus services, according to a new report that analyzes everything from how the state’s school districts hire bus drivers to how they design daily routes.“

John Reitmeyer of NJSpotlight.com takes a look at the contrasting style of Senate President Steve Sweeney and Governor Phil Murphy as they approach the state’s upcoming budget season. The Senate President has been aggressively holding town hall events to discuss his Path to Progress NJ proposal to reform the state’s finances, while the Governor has been sticking to scripted and tightly choreographed events.

In a New York Post op-ed, famed economists Dr. Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore revisit their predictions on the impact of federal tax reform on high tax, big spending states like New Jersey:

“We are sticking with our warnings from last year, which are turning out to have been spot-on. If the tri-state area doesn’t reverse its taxing ways, let alone makes things worse every year, these once prosperous and dynamic states will be fiscally bled to death as tens of thousands more rich taxpayers leave.

They will escape Greenwich, Long Island and the Jersey Shore for places with warmer weather, more sunshine and income taxes as low as zero. Cuomo was right: This is “as serious as a heart ­attack.” Why isn’t anyone doing anything about it?”

Opinion Editor Randy Bergmann of the Asbury Park Press (APP.com) writes on the Adding It All Up report issued by Garden State Initiative this week:

“Commissioned by the conservative think tank Garden State Initiative, the report reinforces my long-held belief that New Jersey doesn’t have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem.  The state’s $34.7 billion budget represents only about one third of all the money raised by New Jersey's 1,522 government entities – 21 counties, 565 municipalities, 590 school districts, 88 charter schools, and 257 authorities, boards and commissions. As the report notes, there is one government entity for every 6,000 New Jersey residents.” 

NJBiz.com’s Daniel J. Munoz reviewed Garden State Initiative’s new research report: Adding It All Up: An Impartial Look at New Jersey’s $117 Billion Government:

“GSI, according to the report, plans to scrutinize spending on student-transportation services, school facilities, government inspection and the road maintenance process as areas of potential savings at upwards of $1 billion.”

“Why do four different layers of government need to plow the streets?” reads the report. “Why do so many school districts need to manage their own student transportation needs?”

NJSpotlight.com’s John Reitmeyer took a deep-dive into Garden State Initiative’s new research report - Adding It All Up: An Impartial Look at New Jersey’s $117 Billion Government:

“The goal of the Morristown-based group’s complicated accounting exercise was to determine just how much it costs to deliver government services in New Jersey. The report also sets the table for a deeper analysis of whether residents are getting bang for their buck. The group is promising to issue follow-up reports exploring ways governments can save money with specific efficiencies. GSI believes it will be able to identify opportunities for at least $1 billion in potential cuts in the coming weeks.”

John Reitmeyer of NJ Spotlight writes on last week’s state revenue report which showed tax revenue coming in well below projections and cites analysis offered by GSI:

“But an analysis of the same tax-collection data by the Garden State Initiative, a right-leaning think tank based in Morristown, suggested only 2.1 percent growth in tax collections through the first half of the fiscal year is a cause for real concern. The pace of growth will have to “accelerate geometrically” through the final six months of the fiscal year to meet the year-end goal of 7.5 percent, the group’s analysis said. “

In an op-ed published in the Asbury Park Press , Senate President Steve Sweeney illustrates the urgent need for New Jersey to address its $150 billion unfunded liability for public employee pension and benefits through the bi-partisan reforms suggested by the Path to Progress NJ report. While the pension fund can go bankrupt, the state cannot - leaving taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars of debt that can only be paid by massive tax increases that would impact every family in the state.

John Reitmeyer of NJ Spotlight writes on the outlook for New Jersey’s economy in 2019, with analysis offered by GSI’s president Regina Egea:

“But Regina Egea, president of the Garden State Initiative, a right-leaning think tank based in Morristown, suggested there is also some cause for concern in her own recent assessment of the state economy. A former state Treasury official who served under Republican Gov. Chris Christie, Egea said growth in the state’s overall labor market is still trailing the nation’s as a whole. Murphy’s refusal to rule out new tax hikes in 2019 is also a concern, she said.

“We continue to see the effects of a hostile climate for business, and the governor’s threat of new and higher taxes creates an environment of uncertainty for residents and businesses,” Egea said.”

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.