Patriotic Millionaires Join Better Choices for New Jersey Activists to Support “Fair and Just” Revenue Raisers in State Budget

PRESS RELEASE: June 14, 2018

CONTACT: Anne Songcayauon, asongcayauon@workingfamilies.org, (201) 233-7735, Sam Quigley, sam@patrioticmillionaires.org

LIVESTREAM: Facebook Livestream of Press Conference

TRENTON- On Thursday, the Patriotic Millionaires, a group of high-net worth Americans and business leaders united  in their concern about the destabilizing concentration of wealth and power in America, joined the Better Choices for New Jersey coalition to support “fair and just” revenue raisers to ensure the state’s ability to invest and grow in addition to meeting key obligations.

“The New Jersey legislature has a choice to make,” said Morris Pearl, chair of the Patriotic Millionaires. Will they continue to underfund the things that make this state great, from public schools to transportation infrastructure to compensation for state workers, or will they do the right thing and strike a blow for tax fairness by asking  wealthy New Jerseyans to pay their fair share in taxes? It’s not a hard question, but the answer is going to determine the future of New Jersey for decades to come.”

New Jersey has record levels of economic inequality, foreclosure rates, and credit downgrades. Smart tax policy measures such as the reinstatement of the millionaire’s tax, closing carried interest loopholes and other measures will raise much needed revenue, increase tax fairness, and invest in New Jersey.

Eric Schoenberg, member of Patriotic Millionaires and Franklin Lakes resident said, “Who are we going to ask to sacrifice?” Are we going to ask the teachers, the police, the firefighters who spent their entire working lives protecting New Jerseyans to sacrifice their pensions? Are we going to ask the school children to sacrifice their education? Let’s start with asking the wealthiest New Jerseyans. A millionaire’s tax and a carried interest tax are not great sacrifices to ask of the wealthiest New Jerseyans. Being asked to pay a few extra points on taxes is not going to affect my lifestyle in anyway.”

The Better Choices for New Jersey Coalition have pointed to the need to rebuild New Jersey’s economy and invest in its people after years of Christie’s budget cuts that led to 11 credit downgrades, a dilapidated transit infrastructure, and the highest foreclosure rates in the country.

“The austerity of Christie’s state budgets and the recent federal tax bill have disproportionately hurt New Jersey’s working and middle class families while lining the pockets of the wealthiest and corporations,” said Analilia Mejia, Executive Director of New Jersey Working Families. “We are heartened to see members of the top 1% who recognize our state’s income inequality and are joining our call to ensure they pay their fair share. $3 billion in new revenue is real money we can use to invest in our infrastructure, our public schools, and our communities.”

Earlier this year, Better Choices for New Jersey proposed a list of Revenue Raisers that pointed to how the state can change course and recoup nearly $3 billion in revenue for the state, a necessary step in correcting the state’s structurally deficient finances.

Their recommendations include: creating a fairer, more equitable income tax structure, re-establishing previous income tax obligations on the wealthiest 5% of households; reversing ill-advised tax cuts from the 2016 Transportation Trust Fund deal, namely restoring the sales tax to 7% and estate tax at the $1 million threshold; closing corporate tax loopholes by expanding combined reporting; enact a corporate tax surcharge on big corporations and recapture their windfall from the federal tax bill.

As lawmakers debate next year’s budget, they should heed the advice of these patriotic millionaires: tax New Jersey’s highest earners to get the state’s finances back on track” said Gordon MacInnes, president of New Jersey Policy Perspective. “Decades of budgeting gimmicks, phantom spending cuts, political convenience, and irresponsible financing that threaten our economic future must end. New Jersey must learn from its past mistakes and pursue bold, sustainable sources of revenue to maintain and expand public assets that benefit us all. The future prosperity of our state depends on it.”

Smart tax policy solutions rooted in investing in the programs that working families depend on rather than cutting funds is a significant first step towards addressing New Jersey’s economic inequality. Advocates reasserted the need for structural fiscal reforms, including making New Jersey’s wealthiest individuals and corporations pay their fair share.

“New Jersey is the sixth most expensive state in the nation to rent a home and our residents are concerned about housing affordability,” said Staci Berger, president and CEO of the Housing and Community Development Network of NJ. “Legislative leaders and the governor can resolve our housing crisis by increasing revenue and investing in proven programs and strategies like the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. We can get our economy back on track by dedicating resources that help make New Jersey a place we can all afford to call home.”

“For far too long, the environment has been the victim of budgets that treat it like an ATM while cutting vital programs,” said Jeff Titel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “This is because the wealthy and big corporations don’t pay their fair share. We use environmental funds to plug holes in the budget and give corporate subsidies or tax breaks to millionaires. We need to have a fair budget so there’s enough money for important environmental programs. This includes getting lead out of our water, promoting green jobs, reducing greenhouse gases, and fixing NJ Transit. We must be sure our environmental funds are used to clean up toxic sites, implement energy efficiency programs, and tackle climate change, not diverted to give someone else a tax break. “If the big-shots, millionaires, and corporations don’t pay their fair share then the rest of the people do. They pay in more pollution, dirtier water, and lead in their schools and homes as well as increased climate impacts.”

“Our state budgets have been balanced on the backs of the poor,” said Renee Koubiadis, Executive Director of Anti-Poverty Network of NJ. As the latest ALICE data show, 41% of families and individuals in New Jersey are unable to meet basic needs on insufficient incomes. We must include sustainable increased revenues in this year’s budget if we are going to turn our state around to build a better New Jersey for all residents, including those who have been left behind in low-wage jobs after the Great Recession.”

Better Choices is a statewide coalition of over 60 community, labor, environmental and civic organizations that fight to protect public investments that create broadly shared prosperity. It is convened by the New Jersey Working Families Alliance.

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