New Jersey Democrats Seek Millionaire Tax Surcharge By Terrence Dopp May 10 (Bloomberg) -- New Jerseyâs Democratic lawmakers plan to introduce legislation to place an income-tax surcharge on residents who earn $1 million a year or more, according to two Democrats who were briefed on the proposal. The plan would raise $650 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1, said the people, who declined to be identified ahead of an 11:30 a.m. press conference. About 16,000 filers would pay the higher tax, the people said. Senate President Stephen Sweeney, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and members of the Senate and Assembly Democratic leadership plan to make a âmajor announcement on the proposed state budget,â according to a press advisory. Sweeney did not immediately return a telephone call. Oliver declined to comment before the press conference. Governor Chris Christie, a Republican who took office Jan. 19, proposed a $29.3 billion budget in March that would suspend property-tax rebates, skip the stateâs $3 billion pension contribution and reduce aid to schools and towns by more than $1.2 billion. He has pledged not to raise income, sales or corporate taxes to close a record $10.7 billion deficit. Former Governor Jon Corzine, the one-term Democrat defeated by Christie last year, enacted a one-year surcharge on filers reporting taxable income of $400,000 or more. That levy expired Dec. 31. Press Conferences Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, want to use the money raised from a surcharge to eliminate Christieâs proposal to charge seniors a $310 deductible for low-cost prescription drug plans and to reinstate property-tax rebates for seniors, the people said. Sweeney has said he would not approve the governorâs budget unless it contained the tax surcharge on New Jerseyâs highest earners. Christie has refused. Christie plans to propose a 2.5 percent cap on property-tax increases and a separate 2.5 percent limit on public worker raises as part of a 33-bill package he will unveil at noon today, said his spokesman, Michael Drewniak. Drewniak said the Democratsâ $650 million revenue target is âsuspectâ given the economy and a tax on high-wage earners in New York that may offset collections for financial-sector workers. âThis is just more of the same thing that brought us to the financial state we are in,â Drewniak said in an interview. âWhen will they learn that New Jersey doesnât have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. This is a job killer.â To contact the reporter on this story: Terrence Dopp in Trenton at tdopp@bloomberg.net Last Updated: May 10, 2010 10:50 EDT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aEColQPqXjSo
Rather confused here... There's not ONE Democrat in the NJ Legislature that's earning 1 Million a year or more? Even if that's true, it's like chickens voting for Col. Sanders. They're leading themselves to economic slaughter.
They aren't very economically savvy. Look no further than Greece, Spain, Portugal, California, etc What do all of these places have in common? Big-government progressives running shit into the ground.
They just can't stop spending. Christie told them F off and now they are crying. He won't sign it. He is in the camp of cutting spending.
California's been raising taxes on the rich for years (top rate now 10.55%) to pay for massive public employee benefits ($500 billion unfunded retirement benefits liability) and welfare programs (12% of the country's population live in California, but the state has 32% of the nation's welfare recipients). As a result, successful people are moving out the state. The average person that moves into California has an income that's 20% less than the person moving out. Businesses are also leaving the state. What's absolutely stunning is that California legislators still think they can tax their way out this hole. Unbelievable.
If you want to juice your local economy, do the exact opposite of this. What if you said lower taxes for the rich in your state? Wouldn't that provide an incentive for rich people to move in with all their money? Give a rebate, not a sales tax, for purchasing items that were produced locally. Half-off of the tax on food in restaurants that are locally owned and operated. If your state has an auto assembly plant, free vehicle registration for those cars.