As part of an ongoing program, 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:
“July’s jobs report for New Jersey showed some positive short term developments in the state’s economy. However, over the longer term, July marked only the first positive month for many economic figures this year.”
Garden State Initiative President Regina M. Egea issued the following statement in commentary on the release of the report by Senate President Steve Sweeney's New Jersey Economic & Fiscal Policy Working Group:
As part of a new feature, 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:
“New Jersey’s June economic reports show how many residents looking for work in the Garden State are continuing to struggle with the state’s slow moving economy. While there are some service industry sectors that have consistently added jobs, the state’s manufacturing and construction industries reflect how New Jersey’s uncompetitive policies have impacted the state’s overall economy.”
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 an op-ed published on NJ.com, Scott Shepard, the author of a new study on New Jersey pensions published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, paints a bleak picture of New Jersey's ability to meet its pension obligations and advocates for measure that will provide immediate and long-term savings.
Garden State Initiative President Regina M. Egea was quoted in an ROI-NJ piece by Anjalee Khemlani on reactions to the report released by the Economic and Fiscal Policy Review Workgroup created Senate President Steve Sweeney:
“What was striking in the report was a lack of a plan of action,” she said. “Recommendations that do not include costs to implement and expected savings, along with a timeline of implementation, is not really a plan; but, rather, another committee report.
“Without a commitment to implement, residents and business leaders are likely to see this as just another report that will take its place on a shelf collecting dust,” she said. “It was heartening to see to the report include the recommendations on health benefits made by the Byrne-Healey Commission, albeit without mentioning their report.
“Unless we are willing to tackle the 800-pound gorilla in the room, which is the unsustainable level of payment of pension benefits, which this report fails to do, things like … consolidation and shared services are distractions that just nibble at the edges of our financial crisis.”
The editorial board of the Asbury Park Press takes a dim view of the chances of meaningful reform coming from the report issued by Senate President Steve Sweeney and his New Jersey Economic & Fiscal Policy Working Group citing the power of public employee unions and the reluctance of Governor Phil Murphy to “to alienate the unions or to take steps to relieve the property tax burden in New Jersey. “
In an op-ed that appeared on NJ.com, Thomas J. Healey, a co-chair of the Pension and Health Benefits Commission (PHBC) formed by former Gov. Chris Christie and assistant secretary of the Treasury under President Ronald Reagan, addresses the very deep hole that New Jersey faces in coming years due to health benefits and pensions owed to public employees.
In an op-ed that appeared on NorthJersey.com, Tom Byrne, who was Chairman of the State Investment Council and served as a member of the New Jersey Pension and Health Benefit Study Commission in 2014-17, offers a dire warning on what the state’s continued failure to address the pension and benefits crisis will mean for the state’s long-term fiscal solvency.
At Garden State Initiative, we have written at length of how Connecticut is a cautionary tale for New Jersey when it comes to economic policy. In this op-ed from the Washington Post, former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, highlights why, states like Connecticut, Illinois, California and, yes, New Jersey, need to get their fiscal houses in order before its too late, and why, under our federal system, there is not a realistic chance of a bailout coming from Washington.
New Jersey’s Certified Public Accountants came to a strong consensus with over 75% saying that the recent budget agreement will negatively impact New Jersey’s economy, with 37% saying it will significantly impact the economy.
NorthJersey.com political columnist Charles Stile reports on Governor Phil Murphy’s reluctance to engage the “800 lb. gorilla in the room” - growing costs of public employee pensions and benefits.
“Rising debt, pension, public-worker health care and school costs threaten to gobble up every new dollar coming into the state — those costs alone represented 90 percent of new spending in Murphy's first budget. The state's ability to invest in infrastructure, dispense property tax aid and respond to emergencies will be severely curtailed.”
In an op-ed on the recent state budget agreement, the Press of Atlantic City took legislators and Governor Murphy to task for a budget that was heavy on spending and tax increases. They closed with a stern warning:
“New Jersey’s high-spending, heavy-taxing big government might be working well for its officials, its union workers and a small number of subsidized corporations, but it is poorly serving the people of the state. At some point they may decide their elected officials are doing the same.”
In a July 9 op-ed former New Jersey State Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff took apart the recently enacted budget deal:
“If I were asked to make a list of tax policy changes that would do maximum harm to New Jersey’s competitive position and long-term economic vitality, I would have a hard time improving upon the last-minute budget compromise announced on June 30.”
