On the heels of NAACP Statewide President Richard Smith signing off on a pro-George Norcross Camden op-ed, leaders of the Newark NAACP chapter made a pointed case against Senate President Steve Sweeney’s (D-3) Path to Progress and urged lawmakers to back Governor Phil Murphy’s millionaire’s tax.

Also, at an NAACP Southern Regional meeting in Atlantic City this past weekend, Smith heard from other chapter members irritated by his signing onto the letter.

Fighting against a Democratic legislature which is committed to signing a budget next week that does not contain an expanded millionaire’s tax, Lisa Douglas, labor and industry chair of the Newark branch of the NAACP, made the statement this week in a video posted on Facebook.

Sweeney’s “proposed Path to Progress is a torturous road to destruction for our public employees,” said Douglas. “It’s a classic case of 27,000 black and brown people, who will be scapegoated as the reason for why poverty exists. …Contact your legislators. Demand that they support Governor Murphy’s expanded millionaire’s tax to ensure that the rich pay their fair share.”

The Newark NAACP also urged members to rally at the Statehouse today in support of the millionaire’s tax.