New Jersey Family Policy Council

Len Deo (973)781-1414	2/8/2008

New Jersey Family Policy Council Calls for Restraint Before Borrowing Thirty Eight Billion Dollars!

TRENTON: The New Jersey Family Policy Council (NJFPC) has added its voice to those who attended the Flying Pig Rally in Trenton today and called for spending cuts and hiring freezes before borrowing what amounts to a year’s entire operational budget for the Garden State. We are asking the Legislature and the Governor to hear the pleas of working families that are reeling from the excessive tax burden that has been placed on them. The New Jersey Family Policy Council supports a five point plan that works towards tax relief and tax reform. Many families today are struggling under a tax hardship that is growing and when accounting for local, county, and state taxes, the burden on our families is growing at rates far exceeding inflation or the consumer price index. This is contributing to the stresses many families are feeling. Our reaction to the Governor’s recent debt reduction plan which includes the additional borrowing of 38 billion dollars, should not move forward until other, to quote the Governor, “draconian methods” are at least attempted. The borrowing proposal in our evaluation is a financial scheme that will place Band-Aids on what amounts to an open wound. “While we are supportive of any legislation that would hasten to reduce the tax burden on individuals and more importantly families who shoulder the lion’s share of the taxes imposed, there are many other issues that should be implemented first. Some of those additional issues are: Implement across the board, 10% spending cuts. Enact a hiring freeze at all levels of state government. Renegotiate union contracts to secure additional concessions from the union membership. Do not replace retiring workers for at least one year, reevaluate over the next three years. Pass legislation, or a constitutional amendment that requires a 2/3 majority to raise taxes. “We believe that the families of New Jersey deserve no less than a major expense cutting before even suggesting we borrow the astronomical sum of $38 Billion. With estimates nearing the $75 Billion to $100 Billion mark as a total cost for the Governor’s plan, we had better stop this now! We can do better and we owe that to the working families of New Jersey. This scheme to borrow us into oblivion, frankly, will shackle this and future generations,” stated Len Deo, founder and president of NJFPC.
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