NJTV: Former Christie staffer hosts symposium for new think tank

Michael Aron, NJTV’s chief political correspondent, gives his take on the GSI Economic Policy Forum, from famed economist Arthur Laffer’s comparison of New Jersey to a drug addict to the running debate on taxes. 

“The takeaway is that New Jersey’s business tax climate is not as competitive as it could be. Certain states like Ohio and North Carolina have really done a lot to lower business taxes over the recent years,”  Andrew Phillips, partner and principal at Ernst and Young, which compiled the competitiveness report, told Aron.

Dan Geltrude, a CPA offered this, “At least once a week, if not more, I have meetings with clients about how to leave New Jersey. That’s actually part of my job.”

Aron said that hanging in the air unspoken was Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed tax hike on incomes over one million dollars to pay for schools, pensions and transit.

“It doesn’t seem like taxes are the solution to that. I think we’ve got to revamp the way we do things, do it more efficiently, get more out of our spending. I think tax increases, the issue is not New Jersey not being taxed enough, it’s New Jersey being taxed too much,” Bob Hugin, Republican candidate for Senate, told Aron.

See the video here.