ASSEMBLY REPUBLICAN BUDGET COMMITTEE: BUDGET OFFERS TAX INCREASES, BUT NO GOVERNMENT OVERHAUL

Today’s budget address by Gov. Jon Corzine that outlined cuts in school and municipal aid, the elimination of deducting property taxes paid on state income tax filings, a severe reduction in those eligible for property tax rebates and payroll tax increases for unemployment insurance was severely criticized by members of the Assembly Republican Budget Committee. Members were united in their lack of support for the governor’s plan.

“Governor Corzine’s address is a repeat of a litany of new taxes that has been proposed for the last seven years,” commented Republican Budget Officer Joseph Malone. “Instead of providing relief, this budget will bring more pain to the middle class who are already struggling. Once again the governor has failed to offer fundamental reforms to the structure of state government. Until this issue is addressed we will continue to be faced with the same problems and hear the same old gibberish that pretends to solve them.”

“Despite what the governor would like us to believe, New Jersey did not get into this fiscal mess overnight,” said Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose,
R-Sussex, Morris and Hunterdon. “This state’s economic meltdown and its chronic budget woes have been festering for seven years. It’s the result of fiscal mismanagement, endless tax increases, runaway spending and reckless borrowing.

“Governor Corzine’s plan to eliminate the property tax deduction on state income taxes is a direct assault on our homeowners who simply cannot afford to lose that deduction,” she continued. “It’s nothing but a backdoor tax. You would be hard pressed to find any middle class families or senior citizens who could say they are better off today than we were seven years ago when Democrats took control of the state. Look at the facts - state spending has increased nearly 50 percent, state debt has almost tripled and we now have 103 new or higher taxes on the books.”

“The governor’s budget is an abandonment of New Jersey’s middle class,” said Declan O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth and Mercer. “Republicans cannot support a plan that cuts property tax relief and raises taxes and fees. The impact of his proposal will be that people and businesses will continue to leave the state because it is unaffordable.”

“Unlike Democrats, who like to assign blame to anyone but themselves, Republicans have spent the last seven years offering common sense solutions – not band aid fixes or shell game shams - to make New Jersey affordable once again,” said David Wolfe, R-Ocean and Monmouth.

“We have proposed $4 billion in spending cuts and constitutional amendments to bring real reform to our government and budget process,” added Wolfe. “Each time we offered to work with Governor Corzine and Democrat leadership in a bipartisan effort, we were ignored. Today, unfortunately, the residents of New Jersey will once again pay for the fiscal sins of their leaders with a host of higher taxes.”