We retired Tax Justice Blog in April 2017. For new content on issues related to tax justice, go to www.justtaxesblog.org
In his reelection campaign, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has been touting his record as a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative, bragging that “not one tax has been raised since I’ve been governor.” Many low-income New Jersey families would disagree. That is because Christie cut the state’s property and earned income tax credits, two critical anti-poverty measures for low-income workers, during his first term.
On property taxes, Christie boasts that he “successfully implemented a 2-percent property tax cap.” But many low- and moderate-income homeowners actually pay more now in property taxes than before the cap took effect. That is because he reduced funding for the Homestead Benefit and Senior Freeze programs, costing working families hundreds of millions of dollars. That is one reason why the public’s view of Christie’s handling of the property tax issue is so low.
On income taxes, Christie reduced the state’s EITC by 20 percent in 2010, costing 1.5 million workers a total of $100 million in tax credits over the last two years. The governor then refused to restore the cuts unless he got his way on an across-the-board income tax cut. In fact, he twice vetoed legislation that would restore the EITC, effectively holding low-income New Jersey workers hostage to his demands.
In contrast, Christie’s opponent, Barbara Buono, has promised to “restore New Jersey’s Earned Income Tax Credit and protect property tax relief for the families who need it most.” At the same time, Buono is supporting a millionaire’s tax that Governor Christie rejected (vetoing it three times) in order to fill in revenues needed for education in particular, which has been severely cut during Christie’s tenure.
A candidate for governor who says, as Buono does, that tax credits and incentives work best when targeted is one who better understands the role of taxes in the economy and budget than one committed to across-the-board income tax cuts (which do zero for a state’s economy and always benefit the wealthiest instead of taxpayers who actually need relief).