Earlier this year, Gov. Christie suspended New Jersey’s film tax credit for the fiscal year 2011 – a reasonable move given the staggering budget situation that the state faced. The movie and TV industries protested. Actors, producers, lobbyists and small business owners testified against eliminating the credit.1 When lawmakers passed a budget without the credit, [...]

Senate President Stephen Sweeney recently announced his retirement – from his other elected office, Director of the Board of Freeholders in Gloucester County. That the ranking Democratic lawmaker in the state could hold two elected offices at once is unthinkable in almost every other state in the nation. Not so in New Jersey. Here, dual [...]

When Democrats in New Jersey raised the top rate on the state income tax last year, it was billed as a one-year, temporary increase on millionaires. When it expired this year, Democrats voted to renew the increase for another year. Republicans, emboldened by Gov. Christie’s veto threat, said “no.” They reasoned that Democrats purposefully wrote [...]

Congress last week passed legislation that will send an additional $685 million to New Jersey – $399 million in increased Medicaid funds and $286 million to save teacher jobs. If properly implemented, these additional federal funds will save jobs; help the state’s ravaged economy and protect services to the most vulnerable. But New Jersey’s share [...]

Task forces, study groups and commissions on privatization often result from an ideological belief that private companies have a monopoly on efficiency that government cannot match. New Jersey governors have given lip service to private sector efficiency, often saying its ability to provide services cannot be matched by the public sector. Despite the recent financial [...]

Task forces, study groups and commissions on privatization often result from an ideological belief that private companies have a monopoly on efficiency that government cannot match. New Jersey governors have given lip service to private sector efficiency, often saying its ability to provide services cannot be matched by the public sector. Despite the recent financial [...]

NJPP’s July 19 Monday Minute asked and answered the question: are public employees overpaid? National studies suggest that, on average, public sector employees are paid less than private sector employees – particularly in professional positions – but that public employee benefits (health insurance and pensions) tend to be better than private sector benefits. Now that [...]

NJPP’s July 19 Monday Minute asked and answered the question: are public employees overpaid? National studies suggest that, on average, public sector employees are paid less than private sector employees – particularly in professional positions – but that public employee benefits (health insurance and pensions) tend to be better than private sector benefits. Now that [...]

The Mars family. Mars North America’s sales in 2008 were $30 billion and Jacqueline Mars is the richest person in New Jersey, according to Forbes.com. Her net worth is estimated at $11 billion. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Mars family has poured millions into lobbying on taxes as well as other issues. [...]

State and local government budgets are under severe strain. Rather than blame the world-wide recession, which has caused tax revenues to fall and the demand for public services to increase, politicians want to blame public employees who, they claim, are over-compensated. Gov. Christie has proposed his 33 bill “Tool Kit” as a solution to reducing [...]