Stuff in the ‘Taxes Economy and Outmigration’ Category
The Record’s Charlie Stiles Gets A Lot Right About NJ’s High Debt Load and Our Water Crisis
Posted On09/27/2019 byBut he does leave out some important details. Kudos to the Bergen Record’s Charlie Stiles for identifying the main reason why New Jersey doesn’t have the money to fix its water pipes (and other infrastructure needs): its worst-in-the-nation debt load. Money that is used to pay for massive unfunded pension liabilities cannot be used to…Read More
SHODDY RESEARCH DOES NOT HELP THE CAUSE OF NEW JERSEY’S TEACHERS
Posted On09/13/2019 byNew Jersey public schools are among the best in the nation and our teachers are the primary reason for that. They should be compensated fairly. But teachers are ill-served by flawed research. Mark Weber, Ph.D., of New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) has come out with a report detailing a “wage gap” between New Jersey teachers…Read More
FY2023 state pension payment: $6.6 billion. Where do we get the extra $2.8 billion?
Posted On09/09/2019 byThe Star-Ledger’s Samantha Marcus does some excellent work this morning in an article on New Jersey’s exploding pension costs. Marcus rightly points out that due to the ramp up to full funding (this year’s $3.8 billion payment is only 70% of the full payment), New Jersey will have to pay $6.6 billion in FY2023. That’s…Read More
The facts about “Chapter 78 relief”: New Jersey taxpayers will pay more
Posted On09/05/2019 byNJ.com reports that Speaker Coughlin has crafted a bill that gives teachers so-called “Chapter 78 relief.” This issue has been one of the NJEA’s top political priorities. Here are the salient facts: The current plan is a “platinum-plus” level plan, which means that 97% of the cost of the plan’s benefits are paid by taxpayers…Read More
GSI is spot-on when it comes to New Jersey’s underperforming economy.
Posted On09/05/2019 byIn a Star-Ledger op-ed, Regina Egea of the Garden State Initiative (GSI) is absolutely correct that New Jersey’s economic reality does not match Governor Murphy’s happy talk. SPCNJ is coming out with a new research report that details the long-term underperformance of New Jersey’s economy (in terms of personal income, state GDP and job growth)…Read More
Tax Foundation: N.J. is suing over the SALT cap to enable tax avoidance, help high earners
Posted On08/15/2019 byJared Walczak of the Tax Foundation wrote an op-ed in today’s Star-Ledger about New Jersey’s suing the federal government over the $10,000 cap on the federal tax deduction for state and local taxes. Walczak captures the situation perfectly: “Ultimately, this lawsuit may be more about posturing than law. It’s about supposedly progressive states trying to…Read More
NJBIZ: Ratings Agency: Pensions still a drag on NJ economy
Posted On07/26/2019 byNew Jersey was infamously downgraded 11 times during the Christie administration, largely on account of its massive unfunded retiree liabilities, and due to continued insufficient funding of its public pensions, no upgrade is coming anytime soon. It’s a sad testament to the current situation that Gov. Murphy’s record $3.8 billion contribution is only 70% of…Read More
A strong warning on New Jersey’s vulnerability to the next recession
Posted On05/22/2019 byThe Star-Ledger reports that the rating agency Moody’s singled out New Jersey as one of the two states unprepared for a recession. With its progressive tax code and its pension funds invested heavily in the stock market, both state revenues and pension assets would be hit hard. In a particularly alarming warning, Moody’s predicts that…Read More