Senator Testa Dismayed by Murphy’s Calamitous Tax Increase on Employers

Republicans Have Been Calling for American Relief Plan Funds to Prevent the Tax Hike

to Senator Michael Testa (R-1) released the following statement blasting the Murphy Administration for the job-killing payroll tax increase:

“Late Friday, Governor Murphy increased the employer payroll tax by $252 million despite New Jersey having one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation at 7.3 percent.  My Republican colleagues and I had been advocating for the use of available federal funds to prevent any tax increase on employers as they recover from COVID closures.  The Governor refused to listen.

“Increasing employer taxes 20 percent now was the height of bad policy and arrogance.  The tax increase was avoidable.  But the Governor demonstrated he doesn’t care and symbolically sniveled ‘Let them eat cake’ to employers from his $10 million Italian villa.

“Even Marie Antoinette’s cake is preferrable to choking on an avoidable $252 million tax increase.

“My colleagues and I will re-double efforts to set aside federal funds to prevent tax increases on employers that are otherwise scheduled in each of the next two years.  Our unemployment rate is among the 6th worst in the U.S. and taxing employers isn’t going to help.”