News from

John Amodeo and Vince Polistina

New Jersey General Assembly, District 2

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE           

Contact:  John Amodeo or Vince Polistina at 609-677-8266

August 13, 2008          

 

NEW JERSEY’S FIRST PLACE FINISH IS NOT A MEDAL WINNER

 

NORTHFIELD – For the third consecutive year, New Jersey ranked first in the nation with the highest tax burden.  New Jersey residents spend 11.8% of their income for state and local taxes, according to the Tax Foundation in its newly released annual report. 

“Government is just making it harder for families to make ends meet,”  said Assemblyman Amodeo.  “It is a sin that in the last three years, state government has been unable to make New Jersey more affordable because of fiscal mismanagement.” 

“When you ask yourself where did all the jobs in this state go, why don’t young people move back to New Jersey after college, or why are we seeing more empty store fronts, this report sums up the answer – our taxes are too high,”  Assemblyman Vince Polistina.  “The most dangerous opinion to have when government increases a tax or creates a new fee or floats another bond is that someone else has to pay it.  Wrong.  As this study shows, we all pay for it in the end.”

The report noted that “in any state where the residents bear a tax burden dramatically higher than in similar, nearby states, the population of resident business and individual taxpayers in that high-tax state is likely to shrink.  Even modest tax differentials cause outmigration according to many studies.”  The assemblymen noted this observation concurs with an earlier report by Rutgers University that New Jersey residents are moving to states with lower tax burdens.

            “If the consequences of higher taxes are so clear to unbiased experts, why can’t the governor and the legislative leadership see it?”  said Amodeo.  “High taxes cause ‘Wallet Drain,’ ‘Brian Drain,’ and ‘Job Drain.’” 

            “New Jersey has not passed a fiscally responsible budget in seven years,”  said Polistina.  “Every year, we are told ‘Just pass this tax increase and our budget problems will go away.’  And every year our budget problems return because state keeps borrowing more money or refuses cut political patronage positions or halt run away spending in Abbott districts.  We need real fiscal reform.”

            Amodeo and Polistina reiterated their support for sustainable budget savings and their willingness to work in a bi-partisan fashion to get results. 

            “If other states can pass taxpayers budget, then so can New Jersey,”  said Polistina.

            The Tax Foundation’s report is posted at http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/sr163.pdf.  The report “Where Have All The Dollars Gone?” by Rutgers University is available at http://policy.rutgers.edu/reports/rrr/rrroct07.pdf .