Municipal Bond Market Study: NJ Ranks 49th in Nation in Creditworthiness
Posted On09/08/2020 byBarron’s published a study by mutual fund manager Eaton Vance that ranked the states by creditworthiness (in other words how risky it is to lend money to NJ) and New Jersey was 49th out of 50 states, trailing only broke Illinois. This is no surprise, given that NJ also has the second-lowest bond rating of…Read More
NJ Education Aid: More Shoddy, Misleading Research from NJ Policy Perspective
Posted On09/08/2020 byThe BuryPensions blog tells it like it is. Based on some excellent new research by New Jersey Education Aid entitled “New Jersey Policy Perspective Misleads on Pensions,” Bury had this to say: “But when a think-tank getting similar NJEA money puts out worse propaganda it gets accepted by other media outlets that choose to disseminate…Read More
NJBIA’s Siekerka Is on Target: Gov. Murphy’s $4.9 billion for Pensions Is Throwing Good Money after Bad
Posted On09/04/2020 byNew Jersey Business and Industry Association (NJBIA) president Michelle Siekerka penned an op-ed in NJ Spotlight today that made several excellent points. Among them: Cut the fiscal year 2021 public employee pension contribution: “we should remind ourselves that whatever dollar figure is settled on will still go toward a broken and unsustainable system, which will…Read More
NJ Public Schools Keep Top Ranking – Largely Due to How Much NJ Spends on Schools
Posted On09/03/2020 byAt SPCNJ, we like to think we give credit where it is due, and so we congratulate the New Jersey public school system for gaining the top spot in Education Week’s “Quality Schools” ranking – edging out Massachusetts for the second year in a row. Overall, both NJ (87.3) and MA (86.7) got the…Read More
NJ Is Number One in the Nation … for Outmigration of Households During COVID
Posted On09/01/2020 byNot good news for NJ. Despite all the recent headlines about New York City residents fleeing to the NJ suburbs during the COVID pandemic, it turns out that from March to July of 2020, seven out of ten households that are moving to or from NJ are LEAVING the state. According to a Bloomberg/United Van…Read More
The NJEA Makes Its Bullying Explicit in a Letter to Superintendents: Shut Down Schools or Else …
Posted On08/28/2020 bySunlight Policy Center of New Jersey received a copy of a letter sent by a NJEA county association president to the superintendents in the county. The letter confirms what Jon Reitmeyer of NJ Spotlight reported on yesterday (addressed by SPCNJ in this blog): the NJEA and its members are actively seeking to block in-person instruction…Read More
The NJEA Wants All-Remote Learning but Will It Support Right-Sizing Staffs and Budgets?
Posted On08/27/2020 byNorthJersey.com’s Terrence McDonald reported that several school districts are having to shift to all-remote instruction because teachers are threatening to take paid leave, leaving the districts without enough staff to open schools. McDonald noted that the NJEA had “already chalked up a win this month when Gov. Murphy reversed course and said he would allow…Read More
Star-Ledger’s Mulshine: More Debt Hurts Future Generations; More Taxes Means More Outmigration
Posted On08/27/2020 byThe Star-Ledger’s Paul Mulshine nails it. Governor Murphy’s proposed budget borrows $4 billion and increases taxes by another $1 billion. Borrowing money to pay for current costs like the pension payment or a budget surplus just shifts these costs to future generations – our kids and grandkids. And expanding the millionaire’s tax and adding…Read More
The NJEA Hits the Trifecta with Murphy’s Budget; the Rest of NJ, Not So Much
Posted On08/26/2020 byGovernor Murphy presented a nine-month FY2021 budget yesterday that props up state government spending by issuing bonds and raising taxes. As analyzed by NJ Spotlight’s Jon Reitmeyer, there is virtually no state government belt-tightening: state spending will “still top $40 billion for a traditional 12-month fiscal year … even as he is projecting steep revenue…Read More
Former NJ Budget Director Urges Governor Not to Issue Bonds before Cutting Spending
Posted On08/25/2020 byFormer NJ budget director Richard Keevey urges Governor Murphy not to issue bonds (borrow money) to plug budget gaps in an op-ed in NJ Spotlight. Keevey argues that the true budget gap is about $4 billion – substantially less then the $9.9 billion that Murphy has been authorized to borrow. Keevey suggests that by cutting…Read More