Voters sent a loud, clear, and stunning message to the complacent political class in Trenton this week—enough business as usual, taxing, borrowing, and spending recklessly. They also dispelled the notion that New Jersey conservatism is dead and progressivism inexorably on the march. Voters have seen Trenton’s idea of progress, and they’re fed up with it. When ballot questions go down for the first time in 17 years, it should serve as a wake up call—but will it? Will the legislature follow the will of the voters or come up with even more clever ways to thwart it?
The ballot questions that went down in flames have clear policy implications that anyone who believes in democracy should feel compelled to support. The voters rejected Question 1, which would have dedicated 1 percentage point of the state sales tax to so-called property tax reform, however the legislature might see fit to define it. The political establishment backed Question 1 as a way to lock in a permanent 7 percent sales tax and pave the way to an 8 percent sales tax, buying public support in the near-term with rebate checks that were not in any way guaranteed to continue. Voters saw through the rebate trick and they want the legislative leaders who assured them the state general fund only needed a 6 percent sales tax to make good for real and repeal the sales tax hike. That’s the one sure way to provide tax relief that won’t depend on trusting Trenton to deliver on promises that have been repeatedly broken in the past.
The implications of Question 2 are even clearer—end the state’s stem cell project immediately, saving taxpayers not just the $450 million they refused to pay but the already-squandered $270 million that is committed to building facilities. It was a crazy, backwards idea in the first place to use appropriated funds to build facilities and then use long-term bonds to finance the operating budget for these places. The gambit was to just start building and dare voters not to fund the research to make the buildings worthwhile. Voters weren’t so easily manipulated, and saw through this attempt to force them to pick up the tab for research with so little promise that the private sector is completely uninterested in funding it.
Unfortunately, instead of listening to their constituents, the state’s leading Democrats are trying to develop new plans to grab taxpayer dollars to fund their stem cell infatuation. There are some indications that they may shake down the state’s remaining pharmaceutical companies, find appropriated funds in the already overextended budget, or use asset monetization schemes like mortgaging the toll roads. Any such attempt to circumvent the clear message sent by voters would be a mistake. The governor and his allies would make such an attempt at their own political peril.
New Jersey can no longer be taken for granted by the big-government leftists that have had total control since the end of the Whitman administration. New Jersey’s conservatives are no longer sitting at home and shaking their heads at the state of affairs here. They are out in the streets, organizing at rallies, calling in to radio shows and legislative offices, writing letters, and rallying to be heard. The grassroots of New Jersey are angry, organized, and frankly fed up with a state that has become the poster-child for the perils of reckless fiscal policy. The choice for politicians going forward is clear—follow the will of the voters paring back the size and intrusiveness of government, or disregard the message of this election, betray the voters by pursuing the policies they repudiated by other means, and face the consequences from the newly energized grassroots activists and voters of New Jersey.
Steve Lonegan is the Mayor of Bogota, NJ, and Executive Director of Americans for Prosperity – New Jersey. Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP Foundation) are committed to educating citizens about economic policy and mobilizing those citizens as advocates in the public policy process. He is a prolific writer, having been published in newspapers and blogs. He just published a book, Putting Taxpayers First: A Blueprint for Victory in the Garden State, that discusses the impact of the Trenton government on the well being of the taxpayers of the state. He offers solid and workable solutions. Learn more at lonegan.com.
