Says Governor’s Income Tax Proposal Doesn’t Hold Water When Exposed to Scrutiny, Urges Real Solutions for New Jerseyans at Every Income Level
TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, issued the following statement today in reaction to the Governor’s State of the State address, in which he called for a ten percent, across-the-board income tax cut without acknowledging where the State might find the funds to afford such a cut in revenue:
“This is a classic example of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Governor Christie’s income tax proposal would yield the greatest benefit to the highest income earners in the State, while middle- and low-income wager earners will see their tax credits disappear as they face a resultant increase in their property taxes caused by the Governor’s politics of class warfare.
“This is the sort of ‘promise the moon’ campaign rhetoric that makes people tired of the political process. Throwing the prospect of an income tax cut out there, without identifying a funding source, just seems to me to be irresponsible governing. And when the Legislature uncovers the funding source that the Governor has in mind – presumably school funding and property tax relief – we’ll be painted as obstructionists, simply because we don’t believe you can take with one hand, give with the other, and call it ‘relief.’
“The State of the State was a great stump speech for the Governor’s reelection campaign next year. But the Governor’s proposals – particularly the income tax cut – don’t hold water when exposed to even the slightest bit of scrutiny. The time for governing gimmicks to win points with national Republicans is over. The people of New Jersey – all the people, not just the protected class of millionaires which have received the bulk of the Governor’s favor since he came into office – deserve real solutions to the problems they face, not paper tigers which will do little to help those struggling to make ends meet in the Garden State.”