Hundreds of NJBIA members heard it from the top recently at three breakfast briefings that connected them with the State’s foremost decision makers in healthcare, taxes and transportation.

During the Transportation event on March 26, the government leaders who participated suggested that an increase in the gas tax and toll hikes be used to fix the State Transportation Trust Fund, which will run out of money in 2011 without an infusion of new revenues.

NJ Department of Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, and Susan Bass Levin, first deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, stressed that while such a tax increase would face strong public opposition, the alternative is to have no money to fix roads, repair bridges or improve mass transit.

“The infrastructure system we have can be an impetus for economic growth, or it can be an impediment to it,” Kolluri said, adding that New Jersey has deferred maintenance on much of its transportation system. “We are fast approaching the point where it’s going to be an impediment.”

Speaking April 2 at the briefing on taxes and spending, State Treasurer David Rousseau was among those who agreed the time was ripe to rein in out-of-control State spending. He and other decision makers indicated that whatever form the upcoming budget ultimately takes, it will not include any new taxes and it will cut spending.

Also on the panel were Senate Budget Committee Chair Barbara Buono, Louis Greenwald, chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, and the two Republican budget officers, Senator Leonard Lance and Assemblyman Joseph Malone. They and Rousseau assured the group that tax increases were not in the mix this year. (Buono had to leave for a budget hearing before the tax question was brought up.)

“There will be no new taxes,” Greenwald said. “There will be no new fees.”

Buono said the budget offered an opportunity to look at how New Jersey can do things differently. She said taxpayers should get the best value from State contracts with vendors. “We may not agree on everything, but one thing is for sure: (Corzine) is changing the dialogue, and he is changing the framework of the dialogue,” Buono said.

“Governor Corzine made the decision to turn things around,” Rousseau said, describing how the Administration has approached closing a $3.2 billion structural deficit. “That’s what this budget is, a turning point.”

Finally, during the April 22 briefing on healthcare reform, Senate Health Committee Chair Joseph Vitale said he believes universal healthcare is coming to New Jersey, but it won’t look like the single-payer (government-sponsored) systems in Great Britain or Canada.

The senator was joined by NJ Health Department Commissioner Heather Howard and Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Louis Greenwald.

Vitale has unveiled a comprehensive reform plan that would expand New Jersey’s existing subsidized insurance program for children, FamilyCare, and require all parents to obtain health insurance for their children. He also envisions extending the requirement to adults with a mechanism to subsidize premiums for those who cannot afford them.

The New Jersey Business & Industry Association Thanks its
2008 Meet the Decision Makers Sponsors

• Premier
  NJM Insurance Group
  The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey

• Grand Sponsors
  Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ
  Jersey Central Power & Light Co., A FirstEnergy Co.
  Verizon
  

• Event Sponsors
  Atlantic City Electric
  AT&T
  Federal Express
  KPMG
  New Jersey Cable Telecommunications Assn.
  New Jersey Society of CPAs
  Stavola Companies
  Tilcon NY Inc.
  UnitedHealthcare of NJ