It was one of about 200 bills sent to the Governor’s desk as the Legislature closed out its 2018-19 voting session last week. S-3770 (Sarlo, D-36; Oroho, R-24)/A-6118 (Greenwald, D-6) would establish the “New Jersey Economic and Fiscal Policy Review Commission” to provide ongoing review of state and local tax structure and economic conditions. Gov. Phil Murphy’s decision to pocket veto the measure caught the attention of the editorial writers at The Press of Atlantic City.
“Whether the governor supports fixing New Jersey’s finances or not, the state can no longer just keep increasing spending, taxing residents and businesses even more and borrowing at high interest rates,” the editorial states. “That keeps New Jersey’s economy performing worse than the national economy, shrinking the pie that residents share and driving them out of the state.
“The Legislature should approve the permanent fiscal commission again and be prepared to override Murphy if he vetoes the bill,” it said.
The bill would have established a bipartisan 12-member permanent commission to ensure work continues on reducing spending, paying down debt and meeting pension obligations without decimating core state responsibilities such as education, infrastructure and services to seniors and low-income residents.
