New Jerseyans Need Tax Relief — Not More Spending and Higher Taxes

By Assemblyman Ned Thomson

Assemblyman Ned Thompson

While New Jersey narrowly avoided a second straight government shutdown, the budget agreement that was achieved at the last minute will have a serious impact on area taxpayers that will be felt for years to come.

As a member of the Assembly Budget Committee, I participated in a number of meetings and listened to hours of testimony on Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed budget that sought to increase spending by more than 7 percent and raise taxes by $1.7 billion. Gov. Murphy and the Democrat majority in the Legislature then spent much of the spring and early part of summer arguing over which of our taxes to raise.

Never, it seems, did they consider reducing government spending nor did the conversation appear to focus on reducing the burden on some of the most overtaxed citizens in the country. In fact, during the debate, serious consideration was given to additional tax hikes, including proposals to increase the realty transfer fee and add taxes to short-term home rentals — two ideas that would have dramatically impacted Monmouth and Ocean County residents. Read the rest of this entry »

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Guadagno: Murphy’s $2 billion spending increase is insane but not a surprise

Former Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno appeared on the Tommy G Show yesterday during which she said that the $2 billion in spending increases and $1.5 billion in new state taxes are insane but that no one should be surprised.

Guadagno said that moderate Democrats who are now calling for spending cuts “sound like Republicans, that’s what we’ve been saying all along!”

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Democrats Budget Compromise Talks Stall

Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and Governor Phil Murphy. NJGlobe photo by NIKITA BIRYUKOV

The Democrat debate in Trenton over which taxes to raise on New Jersey residents and by how much ended last evening with no deal.  Voting sessions scheduled for today in the Assembly and the Senate where cancelled.  Legislators were told to report to Trenton on Saturday.

If Governor Phil Murphy, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin do not make a deal that is approved by the legislature by midnight on Saturday, New Jersey’s state government will shutdown for the second consecutive year.

Governor Murphy wants to increase income taxes on millionaires and the sales tax on everybody.  Sweeney and Coughlin want to raise taxes on businesses to the highest in the nation, expand the sales tax to internet purchases, real estate sales, and impose a new tax on vacation rental homes and Airbnb rentals.

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O’Scanlon and DiMaso: Don’t tax summer rentals

As part of their compromise with Governor Phil Murphy over how many taxes to raise and by how much in the new state budget, the Democrat leaders of the legislature have proposed taxing seasonal rentals of vacation homes and Airbnb rentals.

Senator Declan O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso came out against a seasonal rental tax, which will have a disproportionate impact on Jersey Shore property owners, in a statement issued this afternoon.

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Murphy blinks: Offers Legislature budget compromise

In an effort to get a State budget passed by Saturday and avert a government shutdown, Governor Phil Murphy offered a compromise between his proposed budget and the budget that passed in the Democrat controlled legislature last week, according to NJBiz.

Murphy has previously threatened to veto or line item veto the legislature’s budget.

According to NJBiz, Murphy has proposed a lower corporate business tax increase than the legislature passed and to phase in the sales tax increase proposed over two years.   The Governor said he would accept the School Funding Formula proposed by Senate President Steve Sweeny, which has passed the legislature. Read the rest of this entry »

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Art G and Tommy G talk Jersey Politics this afternoon

Will the State government shutdown this weekend?   How much will your taxes go up?  Will New Jersey elect Bob Hugin, a Republican, to the United States Senate or send disgraced Senator Bob Menendez back to Washington for six more years? Why are Democrat congressional candidates running away from Nancy Pelosi and Republicans equivocating on their support of President Trump?

Tune in to The Tommy G Show this afternoon at 4:06 to hear Tommy and MMM publisher Art Gallagher banter about the shenanigans in Trenton and Washington.

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Art G discusses the Trenton Budget Circus with Tommy G this afternoon

The budget battle is Trenton is heating up as Governor Phil Murphy is threatening to shut down the government if the legislature doesn’t give him all the tax increases he wants.  Democrats and Republicans in the legislature are talking to each other in preparation of a possible override of Murphy’s threatened veto.  Former Governor Chris Christie is in the mix!

The Trenton budget circus is wilder than it has been since..well since last June when the government shut down while Christie went to the beach.

MMM publisher Art Gallagher will be on the Tommy G Show live this afternoon at 4:06 to give Tommy’s listeners an update on the shenanigans. Read the rest of this entry »

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Murphy puts the brakes on sports betting at NJ racetracks despite legislature’s green light

Don’t count on placing a bet on the NBA Finals or the Yankees/Mets subway series games this weekend at Monmouth Park.  Governor Phil Murphy has not signed the bill regulating sports betting that passed the legislature unanimously yesterday and the New Jersey Racing Commission, which Murphy controls, warned the state’s three tracks not to take bets before he does, according to a NJ.com report.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the nationwide sports betting ban, except for Nevada, Dennis Drazin of Monmouth Park announced he was prepared to start taking bets at the William Hill Race and Sports Bar on Memorial Day. New Jersey already had a law on the books, and a state constitutional amendment, that allows sports betting, so with the federal ban overturned by SCOTUS, there was no legal barrier to accepting bets.

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“Millionaires Tax” Not the NJ Fairy Tale Governor Murphy is Selling

By Rosemary Becchi, J.D., L.L.M.

We all know how the story goes: Steal from the rich and give to the poor.  In the story, it’s noble and righteous for the hero to take these actions.  So, it’s no surprise that Governor Phil Murphy believes he can sell New Jerseyans on an economic proposal known as the “Millionaires Tax”.  Unfortunately, this isn’t a story, and the Millionaires Tax doesn’t steal from the rich to give to the poor.  In fact, it steals from small businesses and gives to the bureaucracy of our state government that has proven unwilling and unable to make tough spending decisions.

Murphy’s story goes something like this: New Jersey will raise the state income tax rate for residents who earn more than $1 million, and this will supposedly produce more than $765 million in new state revenue.  Currently, the state’s personal income tax rate tops out at 8.97 percent on income over $500,000.  Governor Murphy’s proposed Millionaires Tax would increase the marginal tax rate applied to income above $1 million to 10.75 percent.

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Facing anger and tears at town hall, Phil Murphy vows to fix N.J.’s school funding woes

The town hall crowd showed up Wednesday night in Willingboro to lambaste Gov. Phil Murphy over how New Jersey will dole out aid to public schools in his first state budget proposal. There was worry and anger. Some told Murphy he had let them down. One woman cried, and her 7-year-old son asked the Democratic governor… Read the rest of this entry »

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