Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Overhall NJ Pension System, Cut Budget Says AFP

Americans for Prosperity, New Jersey's leading grassroots advocate for taxpayers, says the state is at an “economic precipice” and urged lawmakers today to pursue an agenda of spending reductions, tax relief and overhauling the retirement system for government workers in order to put the state back on a course to prosperity.

Speaking before the Assembly Budget Committee in Paterson on the governor’s $33.8 billion budget proposal, AFP spokesman Mike Proto contended the State still has a “spending problem”, adding that “the state is broke and taxpayers are broke…and we can no longer afford the kinds of spending levels which have led to economic decay.”

Proto prodded lawmakers to “work with the governor now to address this [pension and health benefit] crisis before it devours us.” The government worker retirement system, now with over $180 billion in liabilities, cannot be fixed with “massive, economy-crippling” tax hikes, said Proto.

AFP also targeted property tax relief today, urging lawmakers to provide a more equitable distribution of school aid dollars to non-Abbott districts. In addition, AFP called on lawmakers to allow voters to have a say on property tax relief by supporting a constitutional amendment that would restore the Legislature’s authority to allocate school aid dollars free of judicial interference.

Other items on AFP’s agenda included replenishing the Transportation Trust Fund via spending cuts, repealing the state’s death taxes and ending the state’s wasteful and ineffective corporate welfare subsidy initiatives.

A copy of AFP’s testimony can be found here

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