Do I love Governor Chris Christie’s budget proposal? Of course not. Who would? I’m sure he doesn’t like it, but that’s not the point, is it? How could you be happy about a budget to cut $820 million in state aid to public schools or $445 million of municipal aid on top of the other cuts to local governments Christie made to make up the current fiscal year budget gap?
How could I be happy as someone who has taught in higher ed at various public and independent universities and colleges (not to mention with a 17-year-old about to go to college) about the governor proposing a $170 million reduction in aid to higher ed?
No, it’s not going to make the average taxpayer happy that the rebate check isn’t in the mail. Public employees, particularly teachers, are not going to be happy to be asked to contribute more to their pension and, some for the first time, their healthcare benefits.
There is no fun here. There is no good news. But, this is the budget that needed to be introduced a long time ago. Don’t get me wrong, I have some disagreement with the governor on his budget, but overall, I think he is doing the right thing in a big way. Virtually, everyone is taking a hit and, as he said, he is asking us to “jump off the cliff together.” If Jon Corzine had just a little of Christie’s “intestinal fortitude,” he would still be governor.
Some say Christie was angry or too aggressive in his speech. Give me a break. The guy was telling it like he saw it and he was passionate about it. People often confuse Christie’s communication style with anger. Maybe the problem is that we are so used to elected officials trying to say nothing while appearing to say something that when someone actually DOES make it crystal clear what they believe in, it’s hard for us to hear. Can we handle Chris Christie’s truth?
It makes no sense that police officers can retire in towns like Edison, where the average police salary is over $100,000, and are then set for life making a lot of money from a pension system that is killing the rest of the tax payers in the state. It makes no sense to be sending out rebate checks that are so costly to administer. Christie is right to end the rebate and turn it into a tax credit in May 2011.
I don’t want to see state and other public employees lose their jobs and the fact that the governor is proposing that we lay off as many as 1,300 state workers is scary stuff. But something’s got to give.
The Star-Ledger’s headline called it “A Day of Reckoning.” That’s exactly what it is. Sure, public employees have a right to say that they should be left alone and that they have already compromised enough. Teachers can say that they are underpaid (I agree) and that their pension and healthcare deal that was contractually agreed to shouldn’t be changed because it’s part of why they went into the field of public education. Everyone has a legitimate case to make, but everything must be on the table and everyone’s got to feel pain in order to get some fiscal sanity in the state.
That’s why there is one part of this budget where I disagree with the governor. I think it’s a mistake to allow for those making over $400,000 to get what is, in the end, a tax cut. Simply put, there was a one-year surcharge that hit high income earners that brought in about $1 billion a year, which ended in 2009. (The Dems did all this.) We are talking about the richest 2 percent of the citizens in our state. Chris Christie argues that the surcharge should end and that those folks should be left alone. Here’s where I disagree. It’s hard to make the case that everyone else, including lots of middle and working class folks, should take a hit if the top earners in the state, like myself, get off the hook.
The rules have changed, and Chris Christie is trying to right the ship of state. I know he doesn’t want to raise taxes and he promised he wouldn’t do it. But I say he would lose nothing by altering his position on reinstituting the tax surcharge on people who earn over $400,000 a year. I say most people would understand because we are supposed to all be “jumping off the cliff” together.
One of the things I really like about Chris Christie is that he is strong-willed and knows what he wants. But another important attribute of a great leader is to be able to compromise and see that sometimes we have to alter our initial position in order to achieve a larger goal. I’m betting the governor, who so far has been the first chief executive of this state in decades to truly lead, will listen on this and other critical issues. But for this budget speech and, more importantly, the proposals in it, I’m giving Chris Christie an A-. In my book, that’s pretty darn good. What do you say?
