October 16, 2008
Contact: Robbie Kenney / (609) 654-1498Assemblyman Scott Rudder (R-8), Assemblywoman Dawn Addiego (R-8)
Governor Corzine Should Reconsider Republican Proposal for Sales Tax Holiday
Assemblywoman Dawn Marie Addiego and Assemblyman Scott Rudder expressed disappointment that Governor Corzine’s economic proposal, outlined today in a speech to a joint session of the Legislature, appears to provide little in the way of immediate relief for middle class families struggling to make ends meet.
“Middle class New Jersey families are being hit hard by the current economic crisis and today the Governor offered little to help them through these tough times,” said Addiego, R-Burlington. “In some ways this proposal will make things worse for these New Jersey families who will bear the burden of paying for the Governor’s plan without seeing any tangible benefits.”
Corzine’s plan focused on creating jobs through expensive public works projects funded by higher tolls and borrowing, while providing additional state funds for food banks, energy assistance and housing assistance for the state’s lowest income residents.
“New Jersey didn’t get into this crisis overnight,” stated Rudder. “People have been fleeing New Jersey for years. Businesses have been shutting down for years, as well. This seems to be more than a campaign speech than a sound, long-term solution.”
Rudder and Addiego pointed out that most of the public works projects will not create jobs for several months, if not several years, and that most middle class families will see no benefit from the other initiatives the Governor outlined.
“The governor says he is going to create jobs, but these public works jobs are temporary. We need new jobs that are permanent. Making New Jersey attractive to the business community once again, is the answer to creating long-term jobs,” stated Addiego.
“New Jersey lost 3,900 jobs last month and what is needed right now is an immediate boost for our economy,” said Rudder, R-Burlington. “We need to take steps to make this state more affordable for middle class families and to generate more economic activity for businesses so we can prevent any further job losses. This requires less government spending and lower taxes.”
Republicans have proposed to cut the sales tax in half during the holidays this year to stimulate economic activity in the state thereby helping to keep businesses open and prevent job losses.
Republicans had proposed $1.32 billion in possible budget savings in May and even adopting one-third of those cuts would more than make up for any potential loss in sales tax revenue from the tax holiday. The Senate and Assembly Republican long-term plan for economic growth is contained as a component in the “Common-Sense Plan for an Affordable New Jersey,” which can be found at senatenj.com and njassemblyrepublicans.com.
That long-term plan calls for expanding economic incentives to attract new, high paying jobs, establishing a preference program that guarantees a percentage of government contract work will be set aside just for New Jersey businesses, consolidating all job creation programs under the Economic Development Authority, and enacting regulatory reforms that reduce the time it takes to get approval for economic development projects.
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October 6, 2008
