‘NJ Gov. Chris Christie swiftly vetos millionaires tax increase, property tax rebate bills’

‘N.J.’s Christie Nixes Tax Boost on $1 Million Earners’

May 20, 2010, 7:35 pm Bloomberg/Businessweek,  By Terrence Dopp

May 20 (Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie vetoed an income-tax increase on residents earning $1 million, minutes after the bill cleared the Democrat-led Legislature.

“We have a spending problem and a size-of-government problem, and we have to start saying no,” Christie, the first Republican elected New Jersey governor since 1997, told reporters in his office as he vetoed the bill. “Today is an example of starting to say no.”

The Assembly passed the measure 46-32 in a vote that broke down along party lines. Of 33 Republicans, 32 voted no. The Senate approved the bill 23-17 along party lines, setting up a showdown with Christie, 47, as the deadline approaches to have a balanced budget in place when the fiscal year ends on June 30.

Democrats hold a 47-33 majority in the Assembly and a 23-17 edge in the Senate. While controlling both chambers, they lack the two-thirds majority needed to override a Christie veto without cooperation from Republican lawmakers.

The temporary tax boost is projected to reap $637 million in revenue that Democrats may use to eliminate cuts to senior programs sought by Christie, including restoration of property- tax rebates for about 600,000 residents. The governor’s proposed $29.3 billion budget contains $10 billion in spending cuts, including $820 million from school aid, and puts off a $3 billion pension payment.

“We’ve got a lot of people who can’t afford to pay their taxes” and need the rebates that the measure may restore, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, a Democrat from East Orange, said before the vote. “Six-hundred thousand older adults would be better off.”

Measure Killed

Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Democratic leaders personally walked the bills from the Senate chambers shortly after its passage and watched as Christie killed the measure. Sweeney, a Democrat from West Deptford, said the surcharge would have applied to 16,000 filers.

“The message he’s sending is that he doesn’t care about seniors and he cares about millionaires,” Sweeney told reporters as lawmakers marched the pink-jacketed bill to Christie’s office. “I don’t have an issue with millionaires, just with people not sharing in the sacrifice.”

‘Defining Moment’

“This is a defining moment -- it seems to me to be all about taxes, taxes and taxes,” Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce, a Republican from Parsippany, said during more than an hour of floor debate before the vote. Referring to Democrats, he said, “that’s all you guys do.”

The 16,000 New Jersey tax filers with incomes of more than $1 million represent less than 1 percent of the state’s 3.9 million total.

Christie yesterday said he planned to restore the $55.5 million in cuts he proposed to the Pharmaceuticals for the Aged and Disabled program without raising taxes.

Democrats also sent Christie a separate measure that pares a pending $1 billion increase in the state business tax that supports unemployment benefits. The bill limits the increase, set to take effect July 1, to $300 million.

The measure passed by both chambers also omits cuts in jobless benefits sought by Christie and Republican lawmakers.

--With assistance from Dunstan McNichol in Trenton, New Jersey. Editors: Ted Bunker, Mark Tannenbaum.

To contact the reporter on this story: Terrence Dopp in Trenton at tdopp@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net

‘NJ Gov. Chris Christie swiftly vetos millionaires tax increase, property tax rebate bills’ Thursday, May 20, 2010  BY LISA FLEISHER AND MATT FRIEDMAN   State House Bureau

It took about two minutes from the time Senate President Steve Sweeney certified the passage of the millionaires tax package for Governor Christie to veto the bills at his desk.
 
"While I have little doubt that the sponsors and supporters of this bill sincerely believe that the State can tax its way out of this financial crisis, I believe that this bill does nothing more than repeat the failed, irresponsible and unsustainable fiscal policies of the past," wrote Christie in his veto statement. "Now is not the time for more of the same. Ultimately, another tax increase will punish the State’s struggling small businesses and set our economy further back from recovery."
 
After the state Senate passed the bill, which had already passed the Assembly, Sweeney walked the bills down the hallways of the Statehouse, from the state Senate chambers to the governor's office.  Once inside, he handed the bills to Christie, who was waiting. 
 
"What took you so long? " asked Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak.
 
Christie sat at wooden desk emblazoned with the seal of the state of New Jersey and swiftly signed vetoes.
 
"We'll be back governor," said Sweeney.
 
"Alright, we'll see," said Christie. 
 
Democrats would need two-thirds majority in both houses of the Legislature to override the veto.
 
"This is something we're not going away on," said Sweeney. "This isn't theater, this isn't a gimmick."

It took about two minutes from the time Senate President Steve Sweeney certified the passage of the millionaires tax package for Governor Christie to veto the bills at his desk.
 
"While I have little doubt that the sponsors and supporters of this bill sincerely believe that the State can tax its way out of this financial crisis, I believe that this bill does nothing more than repeat the failed, irresponsible and unsustainable fiscal policies of the past," wrote Christie in his veto statement. "Now is not the time for more of the same. Ultimately, another tax increase will punish the State’s struggling small businesses and set our economy further back from recovery."
 
After the state Senate passed the bill, which had already passed the Assembly, Sweeney walked the bills down the hallways of the Statehouse, from the state Senate chambers to the governor's office.  Once inside, he handed the bills to Christie, who was waiting. 
 
"What took you so long? " asked Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak.
 
Christie sat at wooden desk emblazoned with the seal of the state of New Jersey and swiftly signed vetoes.
 
"We'll be back governor," said Sweeney.
 
"Alright, we'll see," said Christie. 
 
Democrats would need two-thirds majority in both houses of the Legislature to override the veto.
 
"This is something we're not going away on," said Sweeney. "This isn't theater, this isn't a gimmick."