While reading the Asbury Park Pressduring breakfast at The Chicken or the Egg (aka the Cheg) in Beach Haven onLong Beach Island (my usual “Cheeser Pleaser”) yesterday morning I came acrossan item on NJ Governor Chris Christie’s policy priorities.
Now that I live in PA I shouldn’tcare about NJ politics. However the bulkof my clients and friends still remain in the “Garden State”.
I have always been a fan of “UncleChris” (the federal government is Uncle Sam, and I have always referred to NJ as“Uncle” or, in the case of one previous governor, “Aunt” when it comes todiscussing taxes). I fully support his takingon the corrupt NJEA (NJ Education Association) – which I believe is the largestcontributor to political campaigns in the state. Christie, and I, are not against NJ teachers –we are against the abuse of the corrupt union. FYI - I am not a "card carrying" Republican (nor am I a "card carrying" Democrat). The only "cards" I carry are for NATP, AARP, the discount programs of Staples, Stop and Shop, and Rite-Aid, and various police organization "courtesy" cards (never used).
The newspaper item mentioned the following policypriorities of the governor –
· Reducingthe NJ Gross Income Tax by 10% across the boards.
· BanningNJ politicians from holding multiple elected offices.
· Eliminatingthe indefinite accumulation of sick pay by government employees and the full pay-outthereof at retirement.
I wholeheartedly support all three of these proposals.
(1) I have frequently said here that Iwill reduce my annual living expenses by over $11,000 as a result of my move toPA. To be honest, I will actually paymore state income tax as a PA resident (a flat 3+% rate on gross taxable incomewith no deductions or exemptions). Mymajor savings will come from housing costs – monthly inflated rent in NJ vstruly minimal real estate taxes and monthly maintenance fees from the purchaseof a reasonably priced condo (no such animal available in NJ). I will also cut my insurance costs – health andauto – almost in half.
That said, NJ does have a high progressive state incometax, as well as excessively high real estate taxes and a higher state sales tax(NJ is 7% and PA is 6% - although I lived near “Urban Enterprise Zones” in NJwhere the sales tax was only 3½%). Hightaxes lead to the exodus of high income residents.
(2) Many of NJ’s corrupt politicians (aredundancy) on all levels have several (often more than 2) paid elected and appointedgovernment positions, as do the members of their family. This results in multiple duplications of paidbenefits and entitlements.
No NJ resident (individual or married couple) should beallowed to hold more than 2 paid elected or appointed government positions atthe same time. And no NJ family should receivemore than one set of resulting employee benefits (health insurance, pension,etc). If a person, or married couple,holds 2 government positions he/she/they should be limited to the higher set ofbenefits from the 2 positions.
(3) Sick pay is an accommodation, forthe benefit of the employer, and notan entitlement. It permits employees whoare truly sick the ability to stay home and recover without losing pay ratherthan being forced to go into work and risk infecting other employees.
Currently government employees in NJ can accumulate unusedsick pay indefinitely over the life of their employment, and are paid for all unusedsick days when they retire. As we haveseen in the case of suburban NJ Superintendents of Schools in the past fewyears, this can add up to a severance pay of over half a million dollars upon retirement. This is utterly ridiculous and an indefensiblewaste of taxpayers’ money.
As an aside note, it appears that these Superintendentsof Schools never took a sick day – they just “worked at home”.
No retiring government employee should be paid one redcent for accumulated allegedly “unused” sick pay!
So a hearty “right on” to brother Christie! Please continue the good fight.
TTFN
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