Welcome To New Jersey Review
Welcome to New Jersey Review. My goal is highlight blog posts and news articles about New Jersey I find noteworthy and interesting.
Becoming an informed citizen is essential, especially with our state at a critical financial crossroads:
There's no serious disagreement that New Jersey's financial crisis tops the list of critical issues facing Gov. Jon S. Corzine and legislative leaders.
Just before Thanksgiving, the state's nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services put numbers on the budget shortfall everyone expected: $5.1 billion for the coming fiscal year. Borrowing to resolve this sixth consecutive shortfall is no longer an option. As of June, state debt stood at $25.6 billion - the fourth highest amount in the nation, without counting the $4.3 billion borrowed since Aug. 3 to pay for such needs as education facilities and transportation. The Transportation Trust Fund, the main source of funding for state road and transit projects, is on course to run dry by next summer.
Given that New Jerseyans pay the nation's highest property taxes, and that other states are pondering what to do with a budget surplus this year, New Jersey's fiscal crisis feels especially acute to residents. The usual fiscal cures of economic growth and more jobs won't work this time. New Jersey's economy is already more prosperous than many states', and its unemployment rate is lower than most.
Instead, our new governor and legislative leaders must grapple with the longer-term issue of where and how New Jersey grows if they if they seek to point New Jersey toward permanent, and genuine, prosperity.
New Jersey
Becoming an informed citizen is essential, especially with our state at a critical financial crossroads:
There's no serious disagreement that New Jersey's financial crisis tops the list of critical issues facing Gov. Jon S. Corzine and legislative leaders.
Just before Thanksgiving, the state's nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services put numbers on the budget shortfall everyone expected: $5.1 billion for the coming fiscal year. Borrowing to resolve this sixth consecutive shortfall is no longer an option. As of June, state debt stood at $25.6 billion - the fourth highest amount in the nation, without counting the $4.3 billion borrowed since Aug. 3 to pay for such needs as education facilities and transportation. The Transportation Trust Fund, the main source of funding for state road and transit projects, is on course to run dry by next summer.
Given that New Jerseyans pay the nation's highest property taxes, and that other states are pondering what to do with a budget surplus this year, New Jersey's fiscal crisis feels especially acute to residents. The usual fiscal cures of economic growth and more jobs won't work this time. New Jersey's economy is already more prosperous than many states', and its unemployment rate is lower than most.
Instead, our new governor and legislative leaders must grapple with the longer-term issue of where and how New Jersey grows if they if they seek to point New Jersey toward permanent, and genuine, prosperity.
New Jersey
