In one deft move of a pen, New Jersey went from being a punch line to a joke to being a model for getting things right.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie last week signed a bill that caps local spending and property tax hikes at 2 percent.
In addressing a convention of the State Building and Construction Trades Council, Christie said: “We have taxed ourselves out of competitiveness in the state. Every dollar we take is another dollar (residents) don”™t have. It is a zero-sum game.”
Sound familiar?
Our governor, David Paterson, took notice of the bill signing and hoped that our lawmakers would emulate their Garden State counterparts.
“Whereas New Jersey”™s elected officials have found a way to put aside partisan sniping and election-year opportunism for the greater good of their state, New York officials have yet to come together to bring relief to our own constituents ”“ this despite the fact that three out of four New Yorkers support a property tax cap.”
Paterson called on the lawmakers to take an up or down vote on a property tax cap before the November elections. “Every legislator in Albany should publicly state where he or she stands on this critical issue so that voters know who supports property tax reform.”
But we all know you can”™t guilt or shame our lawmakers. As former New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch told the Business Journal a few months back, “The most important thing you can say and do that would impact on the legislators is to threaten their jobs, because for them getting reelected is more important than going to Heaven.”
Many lawmakers won”™t even commit to a simple pledge that asks for a balanced and on-time budget, income disclosure, no unfunded mandates and support for a nonpartisan panel to redraw legislative lines.
The pledge is part of the Westchester County Association”™s Call to Action campaign.
The Business Council of Westchester hooked up with Enough Already NY, an initiative of the Business Council of New York State. It asks for cap on property taxes and state spending, a limit on state borrowing and reforming public employee pensions.
Just a day after signing the tax caps, Christie told the convention audience that “they”™re talking about New Jersey around the country, not in a way we”™re used to being talked about and we are beginning the first step in doing what we need to do to build jobs in the state again, (to) change (the) perception of our state.”
And what are they saying about us over here in the Empire State?
What are businesses here saying about lawmakers”™ insistence on raiding the taxpayer kitty rather than cutting costs?
Every business owner, homeowner, taxpayer and employee has had to tighten his belt ”“ yet government continues to feed off the trough.
Even multimillionaires are taking note.
Why do you think LeBron James passed us over for Florida?
But now New Yorkers won”™t have to head all the way to Miami to find tax relief; New Jersey is just a short drive away.
