What's UP with New Jersey?

[DawnCt1]

I am not searching for the link but writing this from my perspective on the situation. Apparently Gov. Corzyne, in an effort to balance the budget asked the state legislature to raise the sales tax to 7%, or by one per cent. They did not agree. As a response to that, the governor is shutting down the state to essential business only. When I think of New Jersey, I think of vacation, Six Flags, casinos, TOURISM. I have also heard that the New Jersey State Police have been directed to ticket at least 1 out of 4 tourists passing through the state for speeding and other violations as a targeted effort to raise revenues. Practically speaking, this action has a lot of implications. First of all for the out of state tourists that have plunked down their money to enjoy the beaches, casinos, etc. Secondly for the loss of tax revenues, (in excess of $2.5 million per day) and for the future. If I were on vacation, I would NEVER return to New Jersey if my vacation was ruined by state politics. Any opinions?

 

[Caradana]

I am not searching for the link but writing this from my perspective on the situation. Apparently Gov. Corzyne, in an effort to balance the budget asked the state legislature to raise the sales tax to 7%, or by one per cent. They did not agree. As a response to that, the governor is shutting down the state to essential business only. When I think of New Jersey, I think of vacation, Six Flags, casinos, TOURISM. I have also heard that the New Jersey State Police have been directed to ticket at least 1 out of 4 tourists passing through the state for speeding and other violations as a targeted effort to raise revenues. Practically speaking, this action has a lot of implications. First of all for the out of state tourists that have plunked down their money to enjoy the beaches, casinos, etc. Secondly for the loss of tax revenues, (in excess of $2.5 million per day) and for the future. If I were on vacation, I would NEVER return to New Jersey if my vacation was ruined by state politics. Any opinions?

Hi Dawn,

Your story is a little skewed. The sales tax is one among many points of contention between the governor and the state legislature, albeit an important one, and the lack of agreement on a budget that the senate passes and governor signs is triggering this shutdown. I understand that the Senate hasn't passed any semblence of a budget over the past few days, so the governor has nothing to sign; he is doing a lot of arm-twisting in the back offices, surely. Let's remember that Corzine climbed the public finance ranks to become CEO of Goldman Sachs, and there's not a human in that senate (nor on this board, most likely) who understands municipal and state finance as well as he does. Corzine believes that we cannot reconcile a budget and prevent further indebtedness without raising the state sales tax. That's a very Republican notion, no? - insisting on a reconciled budget? Legislatures believe that they can't vote for it without hanging for it in future elections. Corzine is in-effect saying - I don't care, do the right thing. He impresses me.

We've had a shutdown before, back in the late 90s - it wasn't as bad as this one. I really feel terrible for casino workers. They're going to take a hard hit.

Where did you hear this about the State Police? Are you reading the Drudge Report again?

It will be hard for you to avoid NJ in future travels, especially southern travels, given that you live in CT. But I wish you much luck as you divert the family minivan through NY and PA to avoid NJ. That will take a long time.

 

[LoraJ]

According to my local paper, the majority in my area justw ant them to raise the sales tax to 7% and be done with it. We'd still be lower than NY.

 

[eclectics]

Corzine is forcing the legislature to address the problem wether they like it or not. He is trying to address NJ's huge deficit as he promised to do. Congrats to him, I say. Btw, that State Police rumor is a lot of bunk!

 

[DawnCt1]

Hi Dawn,

Your story is a little skewed. The sales tax is one among many points of contention between the governor and the state legislature, albeit an important one, and the lack of agreement on a budget that the senate passes and governor signs is triggering this shutdown. I understand that the Senate hasn't passed any semblence of a budget over the past few days, so the governor has nothing to sign; he is doing a lot of arm-twisting in the back offices, surely. Let's remember that Corzine climbed the public finance ranks to become CEO of Goldman Sachs, and there's not a human in that senate (nor on this board, most likely) who understands municipal and state finance as well as he does. Corzine believes that we cannot reconcile a budget and prevent further indebtedness without raising the state sales tax. That's a very Republican notion, no? - insisting on a reconciled budget? Legislatures believe that they can't vote for it without hanging for it in future elections. Corzine is in-effect saying - I don't care, do the right thing. He impresses me.

We've had a shutdown before, back in the late 90s - it wasn't as bad as this one. I really feel terrible for casino workers. They're going to take a hard hit.

Where did you hear this about the State Police? Are you reading the Drudge Report again?

It will be hard for you to avoid NJ in future travels, especially southern travels, given that you live in CT. But I wish you much luck as you divert the family minivan through NY and PA to avoid NJ. That will take a long time.

My "skewed" story is the impression that many out of staters have of New Jersey. As a non resident, I frankly am not interested in the details. The only way it would impact me or any other non resident, is if we planned a vacation in New Jersey. I actually heard about the state police from the wife of a New Jersey trooper who called in, stating that her DH was already overworked and now they had additional directives. That claim was backed up by a couple of other callers. Whether it is the actual truth or not, or attempt to hurt the governor or the state of NJ doesn't matter; thousands of listeners heard the same thing and it may impact their vacation plans in the future. As far as avoiding "New Jersey in the family minivan", there is a couple of problems with that scenario; I haven't driven a mini van in years, and we fly OVER New Jersey, we don't drive through it.

 

[lsyorke]

Corzine is forcing the legislature to address the problem wether they like it or not. He is trying to address NJ's huge deficit as he promised to do. Congrats to him, I say. Btw, that State Police rumor is a lot of bunk!

Imagine, a Governor wanting to find a permanent solution to a problem, instead of taking from Peter to pay Paul.

As for the ticket writing.. easy enough to solve, don't break the laws.

 

[LoraJ]

My "skewed" story is the impression that many out of staters have of New Jersey. As a non resident, I frankly am not interested in the details. The only way it would impact me or any other non resident, is if we planned a vacation in New Jersey. I actually heard about the state police from the wife of a New Jersey trooper who called in, stating that her DH was already overworked and now they had additional directives. That claim was backed up by a couple of other callers. Whether it is the actual truth or not, or attempt to hurt the governor or the state of NJ doesn't matter; thousands of listeners heard the same thing and it may impact their vacation plans in the future. As far as avoiding "New Jersey in the family minivan", there is a couple of problems with that scenario; I haven't driven a mini van in years, and we fly OVER New Jersey, we don't drive through it.

Listeners of who? Rush Limbaugh?
And as Isyorke said, if you don't want to get a ticket in NJ, then don't break the law. It's as simple as that. You could get a ticket in NJ shutdown or not.

Hopefully they can come to a resolution today and this won't even be an issue.

 

[eclectics]

Imagine, a Governor wanting to find a permanent solution to a problem, instead of taking from Peter to pay Paul.

As for the ticket writing.. easy enough to solve, don't break the laws.

Yeah, just like that pesky Clinton tried to do . As someone who is quite familiar with NJ highways, believe me, the troopers don't need a quota or a directive to ticket you! If you break the law, they do just fine on their own!

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

The casino employees aren't the only ones that aren't being paid right now.
My Dsis is an employee in the family court system. She is now at WDW scrimping on what she spends because as of 7/1 she is not being paid until a budget is passed. Since there is no approved budget, the state does not have the authority to spend money. Since you can't spend money you can't pay employees. The state is allowed to have something like 36,000 employees on the rolls while there is no budget. These employees include police, correctional officers, child services, etc. If there is no budget passed by tomorrow, all parks and historical areas will be shut down. DMV closed on Saturday.

I hadn't heard about the state police stopping out of staters but I agree that if you don't break the law you can't be pulled over.

 

[cardaway]

As far as avoiding "New Jersey in the family minivan", there is a couple of problems with that scenario; I haven't driven a mini van in years, and we fly OVER New Jersey, we don't drive through it.

Another bash what Dawn finds beneath her thread. Next time at least get your facts straight.

 

[N.Bailey]

As an outsider, I do feel insulted that I'd be targeted as 1 of 4 possibly to be ticketed for simply being in the state. I have no desire to go to New Jersey, Ocean City, Maryland will serve our needs just fine.

I couldn't care less what they do in NJ, but if they wanted to bump PAs tax to 7%, I'd be a little PO'd. Checking the recent election results in the state tells me other citizens here would, too.

 

[NewJersey]

Oh dawn, another post...more of the same from you.

corzine is actually addressing the budget problems NJ has been facing for a decade now, unlike past adminstrations both D and R. I applaud him. I believe the sales tax needs to be raised, as cutting programs and spending, hasn't plugged the hole yet, and we can't continue to just borrow bonds like we have.

As for the speeding tickets, it was known at the end of June, that state police will be cracking down on all speeders, in state and out of state drivers.

Get some facts before you post.

 

[cardaway]

As an outsider, I do feel insulted that I'd be targeted as 1 of 4 possibly to be ticketed for simply being in the state. I have no desire to go to New Jersey, Ocean City, Maryland will serve our needs just fine.

Last I checked that was debunked at Dawn didn't provide the source... if there is one.

I couldn't care less what they do in NJ, but if they wanted to bump PAs tax to 7%, I'd be a little PO'd. Checking the recent election results in the state tells me other citizens here would, too.

Sounds great to me. It averages over 8% here. Do the other states have a income tax as well. Then I would agree, major suckage, but then any sales tax at all would suck when you are already paying a state income tax.

 

[N.Bailey]

Last I checked that was debunked at Dawn didn't provide the source... if there is one.



Sounds great to me. It averages over 8% here. Do the other states have a income tax as well. Then I would agree, major suckage, but then any sales tax at all would suck when you are already paying a state income tax.

Of course 7% sounds great to you if you're paying 8. That's not rocket science.

Did you notice how all the elected officials in PA gave themselves big fat raises? Did you notice how the voters in PA reacted to those raises? I bet those that lost wish they'd have played a different card now. IMO, these elected officials need to get back to working for the people and I feel that way no matter if they're Republicans or Democrats.

I am actually proud of my fellow citizens for banning together against the whole lot of them. I'd like to see more of the same around the entire country.

 

[Caradana]

Dawn, what radio show are you citing here?

 

[NewJersey]

Don't hold your breath people. I just called my sister. Her godson's father is a trooper and knows nothing of this. More of the same from Dawn.

 

[DawnCt1]

Listeners of who? Rush Limbaugh?
And as Isyorke said, if you don't want to get a ticket in NJ, then don't break the law. It's as simple as that. You could get a ticket in NJ shutdown or not.

Hopefully they can come to a resolution today and this won't even be an issue.

Actually a local New England talk show. It could have been Howie Carr, I don't recall. Does it matter? Frankly, the few times I have driven on the New Jersey turnpike, it was hard to travel at the speed limit. The cars that did seemed to obstruct the flow of traffic.

 

[JVL1018]

I live in NJ and would be happy to have the sales tax raised to 7%. It wouldn't affect most people all that much. We don't pay any sales tax on clothes, so that will still be tax free.
If they wanted to change that, then I'd have a problem.

But geez, 1%-do it, be done with it and move on. How much money is the state losing by NOT doing this? Ridiculous(and I don't mean Corzine).

BTW Corzine has ordered all representives to the state house today to work on it(he can't force them to vote, but he can have them come in). I did see our representative in the 4th of July parade today though.
Stop schmoozing and start working!

As for why the state is "closing", from:

http://www.state.nj.us/governor/news/news/approved/20060701a.html

Executive Order 17, which was signed mid-morning at the State House, is required because the state constitution does not allow the state to draw money from the Treasury in the absence of an appropriations act.

 

[sweet angel]

We have state income tax and sales tax.

 

[DawnCt1]

Oh dawn, another post...more of the same from you.

corzine is actually addressing the budget problems NJ has been facing for a decade now, unlike past adminstrations both D and R. I applaud him. I believe the sales tax needs to be raised, as cutting programs and spending, hasn't plugged the hole yet, and we can't continue to just borrow bonds like we have.

As for the speeding tickets, it was known at the end of June, that state police will be cracking down on all speeders, in state and out of state drivers.

Get some facts before you post.

As a non resident, I don't give a fig about NJ's problems. I am pointing out to you the perception that many non residents have of NJ's problems and how that perception impacts tourism, one of your major industries and a major source of revenue for the state. How YOU solve YOUR state's problems is your business. Do realize however that perception is 9/10ths of reality and those perceptions could certainly impact NJ's immediate source of revenue.