New Jersey Government Shuts Down Over Tax Dispute

Joker · #1 (**permalink**) 07-02-2006, 04:28 AM

Quote:

New Jersey Government Shuts Down Over Tax Dispute
By TOM HESTER Jr, AP

TRENTON, N.J. (July 2) - As the state government shutdown entered its second day, lawmakers who have been unable to agree on a budget planned to return to the Statehouse to try to reach a compromise.

The dispute centers on Gov. Corzine's determination to raise the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to help close the budget deficit.

The rare Sunday morning gathering would come a day after Gov. Jon S. Corzine shut down nonessential government services amid a bitter intraparty dispute. The Legislature failed to adopt a budget by its July 1 deadline, leaving the state without the means to spend money.

About 45,000 state employees were furloughed Saturday. Corzine's order allows him to keep 36,000 state employees working without pay. Services such as state police, prisons, mental hospitals and child welfare were to keep operating.

The lottery, horse racing and road construction projects were among the first services to close, while parks, beaches, historic sites and possibly casinos may close in the coming days.

The horse racing industry won a reprieve late Saturday when a state appellate court judge issued an order allowing it to temporarily continue operations.

Judge Stephen Skillman issued the temporary stay after hearing a motion filed by the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association, said Winnie Comfort, a court spokeswoman.

The state racing commission was told to file its response by 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Comfort said, and the matter will then be considered by the full three-judge panel. It was not clear when the panel would issue a decision.

The state constitution requires a new budget be adopted by July 1. Budget talks became heated this year as Corzine, a Democrat, proposed increasing the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to help overcome a $4.5 billion budget deficit.

Most Democrats in the Assembly - the lower house of the state Legislature - and several Senate Democrats oppose the sales tax increase, fearing voter backlash and reserving any tax increase for property tax reform. Assembly Democrats proposed a series of alternatives, some of which Corzine accepted, but both sides remained $1 billion apart as the budget deadline passed.

Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr., D-Camden, called the Assembly Budget Committee back to the Statehouse for a 10 a.m. Sunday meeting.

"Our caucus feels overwhelmingly that there are much more appealing alternatives to balance the budget than a sales tax increase," Roberts said.

Top legislative officials are also expected to meet with Corzine on Sunday.

The Senate is scheduled to meet Monday, and senators have been told to expect to remain in session until a solution is found. Senate President Richard J. Codey has proposed using half the sales tax increase revenue for property tax relief, an idea Corzine accepted but Roberts rejected.

"I am prepared to compromise and I have," Corzine said. "There have been significant accommodations to the Legislature, but there will not be a continuation of the practices of the past that leave New Jersey practically in the same shape as the Katrina-ravaged Gulf states who are the only states, after roughly five years of economic expansion, that still have a rating in the red."

07/02/06 05:11 EDT

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Here in Jersey, we're starting to see some of the consequences of running up an uncontrollable deficit.

Joker · #2 (**permalink**) 07-03-2006, 04:12 AM

This article is a little mistaken. I discovered yesterday that the shut down won't begin until Wednesday (isn't our state government just grand?). Still, the rest of America ought to be watching NJ right now and wondering, "Could this happen to the entire nation if we're not careful?"

stekim · #3 (**permalink**) 07-03-2006, 04:22 AM

I hope it does!

Gian55 · #4 (**permalink**) 07-03-2006, 04:33 AM

Actually, didn't the federal government shut down in the 1990s because of budget disputes?

stekim · #5 (**permalink**) 07-03-2006, 04:37 AM

And somehow the nation survived. Weird.

Joker · #6 (**permalink**) 07-03-2006, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gian55";p=&quot

Actually, didn't the federal government shut down in the 1990s because of budget disputes?

I hadn't heard of that. I guess I was too busy back in the nineties wasting my life away to hear such insignificant news. Was this shut down cause by the same problems we face here in NJ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by stekim";p=&quot

And somehow the nation survived. Weird.

I'm glad it did, and I hope the same for NJ, but deficits still scare me, nonetheless. Maybe we have pulled out of some deficit crises unharmed, but there have been nations in the past that collapsed from unchecked deficits. I guess the real question is would it be a good thing or a bad thing if the US government collapsed?

What really pisses me off about this whole NJ shut down is that I never even heard about a budget deficit in NJ until about 2 or 3 months ago (and a lot of other folks around here are saying the same thing), yet already we are in shut down. At the last minute, they tried to get a new sales tax increase Maybe we should have been addressing this problem more seriously 2 years ago.

Also, I think shutting down the casions in AC is not very bright. You'd think they would keep them running since they are such huge money generators. I guess there must be something about them I'm missing.

stekim · #7 (**permalink**) 07-03-2006, 05:39 AM

I've been warning people for years about the national debt. This country is going to be completely screwed if we don't get the national debt down. Even Greenspan warning Congress did no good.

NJVet · #8 (**permalink**) 07-03-2006, 05:15 PM

Our late Gov. Christine Todd Whitman
and her out of control spending. and
of course then blame the Democrat
that soon followed. But I find this to be
typical of the Right wing Neo-Cons blame
the other party. Say it enough and they
start believing it themsleves. She (Whitman)
did for us what she did as Chief of the EPA
at Ground Zero saying the air was ok to
breathe. Just another Republican Hack.
I'd like to see the sales tax increase, not the
income tax their also talking about. seem a bit
more fair for the masses

Joker · #9 (**permalink**) 07-03-2006, 05:39 PM

I agree a 1% sale tax increase is not a big deal to me if it means we won't need to be bailed out by the feds because a) it's embarrassing and b) I don't trust the feds to be able to help anyhow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJVet";p=&quot

Gov. Christine Todd Whitman...Right wing Neo-Cons ...Chief of the EPA...Ground Zero... Republican Hack.

Subliminal messages?

JP5 · #10 (**permalink**) 07-03-2006, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joker";p=&quot

Quote:

New Jersey Government Shuts Down Over Tax Dispute
By TOM HESTER Jr, AP

TRENTON, N.J. (July 2) - As the state government shutdown entered its second day, lawmakers who have been unable to agree on a budget planned to return to the Statehouse to try to reach a compromise.

The dispute centers on Gov. Corzine's determination to raise the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to help close the budget deficit.

The rare Sunday morning gathering would come a day after Gov. Jon S. Corzine shut down nonessential government services amid a bitter intraparty dispute. The Legislature failed to adopt a budget by its July 1 deadline, leaving the state without the means to spend money.

About 45,000 state employees were furloughed Saturday. Corzine's order allows him to keep 36,000 state employees working without pay. Services such as state police, prisons, mental hospitals and child welfare were to keep operating.

The lottery, horse racing and road construction projects were among the first services to close, while parks, beaches, historic sites and possibly casinos may close in the coming days.

The horse racing industry won a reprieve late Saturday when a state appellate court judge issued an order allowing it to temporarily continue operations.

Judge Stephen Skillman issued the temporary stay after hearing a motion filed by the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association, said Winnie Comfort, a court spokeswoman.

The state racing commission was told to file its response by 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Comfort said, and the matter will then be considered by the full three-judge panel. It was not clear when the panel would issue a decision.

The state constitution requires a new budget be adopted by July 1. Budget talks became heated this year as Corzine, a Democrat, proposed increasing the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to help overcome a $4.5 billion budget deficit.

Most Democrats in the Assembly - the lower house of the state Legislature - and several Senate Democrats oppose the sales tax increase, fearing voter backlash and reserving any tax increase for property tax reform. Assembly Democrats proposed a series of alternatives, some of which Corzine accepted, but both sides remained $1 billion apart as the budget deadline passed.

Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr., D-Camden, called the Assembly Budget Committee back to the Statehouse for a 10 a.m. Sunday meeting.

"Our caucus feels overwhelmingly that there are much more appealing alternatives to balance the budget than a sales tax increase," Roberts said.

Top legislative officials are also expected to meet with Corzine on Sunday.

The Senate is scheduled to meet Monday, and senators have been told to expect to remain in session until a solution is found. Senate President Richard J. Codey has proposed using half the sales tax increase revenue for property tax relief, an idea Corzine accepted but Roberts rejected.

"I am prepared to compromise and I have," Corzine said. "There have been significant accommodations to the Legislature, but there will not be a continuation of the practices of the past that leave New Jersey practically in the same shape as the Katrina-ravaged Gulf states who are the only states, after roughly five years of economic expansion, that still have a rating in the red."

07/02/06 05:11 EDT

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Here in Jersey, we're starting to see some of the consequences of running up an uncontrollable deficit.

So: stop spending. My state of Texas is running an $8.2 billion state surplus.....which has prompted Gov. Rick Perry to call for even larger property tax cuts than the ones he's pushed in recent weeks.

Looks like Jon Corzine is as bad a state Governor as he was a U.S. Senator.

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