Treasurer: Christie firm in millionaire’s tax opposition

TRENTON – Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff said Monday a millionaire’s tax would be “self destructive,” and that it would obliterate job

TRENTON – Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff said Monday a millionaire’s tax would be “self destructive,” and that it would obliterate job growth, prompting employers to move out of the state and create “a cycle of deterioration.”

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The treasurer responded when Sen. Barbara Buono, (D-18), of Edison, asked him where the shared sacrifice is, if  a “millionaire’s tax” is not one of the options. She said such a tax  would only impact a mere 0.5 percent of the population.

Buono told the treasurer the governor has made the decision to keep this segment of the population out of the so-called shared sacrifice.

“We made the choice of emphasizing economic growth,” the treasurer said. “Granted, not everyone agrees with us.”

Buono later said Gov. Chris Christie is more concerned about politics than about fixing the state’s fiscal situation, adding that the state’s taxpayers have become “pawns in this cruel game.” “It’s all about who wins and who loses,” she said.

The treasurer told  the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee  Christie has no intention of having a millionaire’s tax enacted.

However, Sen. Linda Greenstein, (D-14), of Monroe, said “it will be easier to swallow” the governor’s shared sacrifice argument if a millionaire’s tax was in place.

She asked Sidamon-Eristoff what “real evidence” he had that a tax on well-heeled residents would drive them out of the state.

Besides anecdotes, Sidamon-Eristoff said there seems to be greater economic growth in states with lower marginal income tax rates than states with high levels, such as New Jersey.

He also said with a flat tax in Pennsylvania and lower marginal rates in New York for wealthy folks, New Jersey is at a disadvantage if its rates remain the highest.

“The key point is we’re in a competitive environment,” he said. “Our reliance on these high marginal rates has resulted in a system of revenues that is very volatile and feeds a boom and bust approach.”

She said it seems Christie and others have adopted a “trickle-down” economics philosophy which, Greenstein said, has been disproven over the years.

At his press conference later in the day, Gov. Chris Christie reiterated his opposition to the millionaire’s tax.

He argued that $70 billion in wealth left the state between 2004 and 2008, and pointed out that N.Y. Gov. Cuomo also has opposed a millionaire’s tax in that state. “You can’t say it’s partisan when I’m doing it and Andrew Cuomo is doing it,’’ Christie said.

http://www.politickernj.com/46462/sarlo-sidamon-eristoff-disagree-job-growth-timetable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Treasurer: Christie firm in millionaire’s tax opposition