Fiocchi: Democrats' Plan 'Disastrous' For Struggling Middle-Class Families

Source: The Daily Journal -

Assembly Democrats are now on board with their Senate colleagues in pushing for higher income taxes on wealthy households to avoid cutting the pension payment in New Jersey’s 2015 budget.

Details of the Assembly Democrats’ budget blueprint remain sketchy, although Speaker Vincent Prieto, D-Hudson, said he hopes the spending plan and associated tax increases will be approved by the Assembly next Thursday. The deadline to adopt a budget is June 30.

“Judging from their single-minded pursuit of tax increases, the Trenton Democrats’ plan will be disastrous for middle-class families struggling to find jobs and make ends meet. The last time New Jersey tried to tax itself out of its fiscal woes, thousands of residents left our state along with more than $70 billion in wealth. Rather than fiscal solvency, we were left with the largest structural budget deficit in the entire country.” – Assemblyman Sam Fiocchi

Prieto said he hoped to start the income-tax hike at $1 million, rather than at the $500,000 level proposed Wednesday by Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester. He said other details envisioned by Senate Democrats, including a 15 percent surcharge on corporate business taxes and a one-year suspension of some grants to businesses, are similarly subject to ongoing talks.

“The way I look at it, the state of New Jersey has a revenue problem. I don’t think it has a spending problem,” Prieto said.

The Assembly proposes additional spending that wasn’t included in the Senate’s plan and lacks the detail about revenue-raisers that Sweeney announced this week.

Whatever the details of the Democrats’ compromise turn out to be, the plan will be vetoed by Gov. Chris Christie.

“Different day, same plan for an already severely overtaxed state,” Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said.

This would be the fourth time Democratic lawmakers sent Christie a so-called “millionaires tax.” The governor vetoed similar plans in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Senate Democrats estimated a 10.75 percent tax rate on income over $1 million would generate $565 million in the coming budget year, not counting a one-time infusion — estimated at $105 million, which includes the impact of a 10.25 percent tax rate on income above $500,000 — generated by applying the tax retroactively on income since January.

Foremost among the obligations that Democrats say are being shirked is a $2.25 billion payment to the pension funds, rather than the $681 million Christie is proposing to offset reductions in the forecast for income tax collections. Unions have gone to court seeking to block the cuts in both the current and upcoming budgets, which total nearly $2.5 billion.

Union leaders cheered the plan, as they did the Senate’s proposal. Business organizations and Republicans criticized it.

“This is the same old tired song we hear repeatedly at budget time,” said Assemblywoman Bettylou DeCroce, R-Morris, of the more detailed Senate plan.

“A back-breaker for job-creators,” said Assemblyman Christopher Brown, R-Burlington.

Assembly Sam Fiocchi, R-Cumberland, panned the idea of tax hikes in response to the Senate Democrats’ proposal.

“Judging from their single-minded pursuit of tax increases, the Trenton Democrats’ plan will be disastrous for middle-class families struggling to find jobs and make ends meet,” Fiocchi said. “The last time New Jersey tried to tax itself out of its fiscal woes, thousands of residents left our state along with more than $70 billion in wealth. Rather than fiscal solvency, we were left with the largest structural budget deficit in the entire country.”

DeCroce, Brown Balk As Assembly Democrats Push Income Tax Hike For Rich, Too

Source: Asbury Park Press -

Assembly Democrats are now on board with their Senate colleagues in pushing for higher income taxes on wealthy households to avoid cutting the pension payment in New Jersey’s 2015 budget.

 “This is the same old tired song we hear repeatedly at budget time.” – Assemblywoman Bettylou DeCroce, R-Morris.

 Details of the Assembly Democrats’ budget blueprint remain sketchy, although Speaker Vincent Prieto, D-Hudson, said he hopes the spending plan and associated tax increases will be approved by the Assembly next Thursday. The deadline to adopt a budget is June 30.

“A back-breaker for job-creators.” – Assemblyman Christopher Brown, R-Burlington.

Prieto said he hoped to start the income-tax hike at $1 million, rather than at the $500,000 level proposed Wednesday by Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester. He said other details envisioned by Senate Democrats, including a 15 percent surcharge on corporate business taxes and a one-year suspension of some grants to businesses, are similarly subject to ongoing talks.

“The way I look at it, the state of New Jersey has a revenue problem. I don’t think it has a spending problem,” Prieto said.

The Assembly proposes additional spending that wasn’t included in the Senate’s plan and lacks the detail about revenue-raisers that Sweeney announced a day earlier.

Whatever the details of the Democrats’ compromise turn out to be, the plan will be vetoed by Gov. Chris Christie.

“Different day, same plan for an already severely overtaxed state,” said Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak.

This would be the fourth time Democratic lawmakers sent Christie a so-called “millionaires tax.” The governor vetoed similar plans in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Foremost among the obligations that Democrats say are being shirked is a $2.25 billion payment to the pension funds, rather than the $681 million Christie is proposing to offset reductions in the forecast for income tax collections. Unions have gone to court seeking to block the cuts in both the current and upcoming budgets, which total nearly $2.5 billion.

Union leaders cheered the plan, as they did the Senate’s proposal. Business organizations and Republicans criticized it.

“This is the same old tired song we hear repeatedly at budget time,” said Assemblywoman Bettylou DeCroce, R-Morris, of the more detailed Senate plan.

“A back-breaker for job-creators,” said Assemblyman Christopher Brown, R-Burlington.

DeCroce Calls Senate Democrat Budget Plan A Job Killer

Source: Assembly Republican Press Conference -

Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce (R-Morris, Essex Passaic) said the Senate Democrats’ budget proposal that increase taxes and cuts business incentives by $1.6 billion is a “job killer” that will send more people to the unemployment line and keep them there.

DeCroce, a member of the Commerce and Economic Development committee, decried the Senate Democrats plan for failing to include any spending cuts and again call for raising taxes on hard working, productive citizens in the state.

“This is the same old tired song we hear repeatedly at budget time,” said DeCroce. “Raising taxes is the typical response to too many in Trenton and discourages the people working the hardest to create jobs and make business investment in New Jersey.”

DeCroce said adding a 15 percent corporate business tax surcharge and suspending $175 million from the Economic Development Authority’s Business Employment Incentive Program will merely add to New Jersey’s reputation as a bad place to do business.

The Assemblywoman, a small business owner, said the last thing struggling business owners need is yet another tax on their earnings.

“I encourage my Democratic colleagues to look at the national data that continually ranks New Jersey near the bottom as the place to do business in the United States,” said DeCroce. “The state already has a bad business reputation that is responsible for high unemployment. The Senate Democrat plan will guarantee just one thing – fewer jobs.”

Forbes ranked New Jersey 48th in business costs and 38 in regulatory environment in 2013. And CNBC ranked the state 42nd in the cost of doing business and 41st in business friendliness.

“Does anyone think that adding a $1.6 billion burden on people who run businesses and guide corporate investment in New Jersey is going to encourage the creation of more jobs?” asked DeCroce.

The assemblywoman said any serious discussion on the state’s budget has to begin with cutting unnecessary spending.

“Any serious discussion of the state’s budget has to begin with cutting unnecessary spending. Any budget solution that begins with raising taxes ignores our real problems and puts jobs in danger,” said DeCroce.

DeCroce Intros Bill Giving Government Opportunity to Fundraise For Beneficial Community Projects

Assembly Republican Press Release -

‘Crowdfunding’ a different approach for public projects

Government entities in New Jersey may soon have a new mechanism at their disposal to raise private funds for projects that benefit the public thanks to legislation sponsored by Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce, R-Morris, Essex and Passaic.

“Crowdfunding” allows all governments entities, including the state, counties, municipalities, school boards and authorities to raise money via the internet or other direct solicitation vehicles for a variety of projects that governments are constrained from funding.

“These are tough economic times for many towns and school boards,” said DeCroce. “Crowdfunding offers an alternative to direct taxation to fund improvement projects that governments are unable to fund, but people want. I believe it can be a useful tool to help governments, civic groups and investors work together to make improvements that benefit the entire community without raising property taxes.”

DeCroce explained the need for the legislation, saying that there are many worthwhile projects in communities each year that do not get funded because of budget constraints or lack of community-wide support for a public expenditure. She cited projects such as bike paths, artificial turf and dog parks that crowdfunding could be used for.

“Each of these amenities has a constituency, but may not have the full support of the public if the funding had to go to a referendum,” explained DeCroce. “This measure gives governments and citizens an alternative funding method that doesn’t dip into taxpayers’ pockets.”

Crowdfunding is in use in several states and cities in the U.S., including Kansas City, Mo., which raised just under $420,000 to provide 90 shareable bikes at 12 sharing stations in the city’s downtown area. Another crowdfunding venture in the Boston area gave students iPads, Bluetooth headsets, and the training to use them.

In Portland, Oregon, the city is working on using crowdfunding to finance a world class bicycling park that will also be used for runners, picnickers, and others. The city does not have the money to develop the project, so the state Department of Transportation transferred a piece of vacant property to the city’s Parks & Recreation Bureau. A governor-appointed body, called Oregon Solutions, is using a crowdfunding website to obtain the initial capital. Although the finished project will cost millions, the campaign’s initial goal was to raise $100,000 to hire trail designers and landscape engineers to draft plans to eventually qualify for government and private grants, as well as obtain construction permits.

Cities in Europe are also turning to crowdfunding to supplement government financing. It is usually done with the assistance of a company that specializes in internet-based fundraising.

DeCroce’s legislation (A-3378) outlines the process governments must follow in New Jersey before starting a crowdfunding venture, including setting a specific fundraising target and implementing a time limit on the fundraising activity. Entities using crowdfunding for the first time must initiate a pilot project and, if successful, may take on multiple crowdfunding projects in the future.

Crowdfunding, according to DeCroce’s legislation, may be donor-based or investor- based. A donor-based effort shall specify that if the target funding amount is not reached, the funds will be allocated to the government entity in charge of the project for funding of another project.

In the case of investor-based crowdfunding initiatives, the money must be returned to the investors if the target goal is not reached.

Christie Signs Lunsford Act into Law

Source: The Advertiser News -

Gov. Chris Christie joined with lawmakers and victims advocates for a ceremonial bill signing of the Jessica Lunsford Act which strengthens penalties for those who commit sexual assaults against children in New Jersey.

Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce (R- Morris, Essex, Passaic) was a cosponsor of the legislation that sets a mandatory minimum prison sentence of at least 25 years to life with no chance of parole for those who are found guilty of aggravated sexual assault against a child under the age of 13.

The law provides flexibility to prosecutors in very limited circumstances for terms of no fewer than 15 years, only when such a plea is in the best interest of the victim as determined by plea guidelines established by the Attorney General’s Office.

“This law will ensure that those who commit the unspeakable act of sexual assault on a child will be taken off our streets and locked behind bars where they cannot harm any more children,” DeCroce said.

The law is named for a nine-year-old Florida resident, Jessica Lunsford, who was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by a registered sex offender in 2005. “The harm that sexual predators inflict on children, their families and friends is immeasurable and must be punished as severely as possible under the law,” added DeCroce.

The legislation was initially sponsored by the late Assemblyman Eric Muñoz in 2005. Muñoz’ wife, Assemblywoman Nancy Muñoz, R-Union, Morris and Somerset, is the bill’s prime sponsor.

“The physical and emotional harm done to children, as well as the trauma suffered by their families and communities, deserves the strongest possible response by the justice system. Justice has now been served,” said Assemblywoman Allison Littell-McHose of Sussex County.

“The new law will equip law enforcement with the tools it needs to make sure sexual predators receive the punishment they deserve.”

DeCroce: Just Say No To Legalizing Marijuana

Source: Daily Record – Letter-to-editor by BettyLou DeCroce -

The parade of those clamoring for the legalization of pot in New Jersey includes an odd alignment of progressives, municipal prosecutors and doctors. They see legalization as harmless and inevitable. They make an interesting, if not a compelling case.

Legalizing marijuana, they argue, would eliminate from our already crowded court system cases of casual users of pot who pose little threat to the community. Why waste taxpayer money prosecuting these individuals and why burden these people with criminal records for smoking a weed? Instead, they argue, legalize pot, and tax it; filling government coffers with millions of dollars.

I have a different view: let’s not make another illicit drug legal just for expediency. I am not persuaded that legalizing marijuana for anything but medical use will prove beneficial to our society.

The experiment with legalizing marijuana in Colorado is barely five months old; before we blindly follow that state off a Rocky Mountain cliff, let’s review real world data. I’m not alone in that position. California Gov. Jerry Brown recently told The New York Times that “I think we ought to kind of watch and see how things go in Colorado,” before legalizing marijuana in the Golden State.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is no big fan of legalization of marijuana, which was approved via referendum, not legislation. He said in an eye-opening documentary by CNBC that legalization sends a “terrible message” to minors. He’s right. Pot smoking may or may not be as dangerous as alcohol, but it is not benign.

While the entertainment industry glamorizes marijuana and other drugs in movies and magazines, it sidesteps reality. Scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse warn that the effects of pot on the developing teenage brain include the potential of an 8 to 10 point drop in IQ over time. They also note that users are likely to become dependent, physically or psychologically.

Recently, fourth-graders in Colorado were caught selling an edible form of marijuana, which is popularly baked into candy and cookies. Their parents left the edible marijuana where their children could access it and take it to school —apparently ignorant of the dangers of ingesting marijuana . Eating pot can lead to life-threatening overdoses and dangerous behavior, especially in children. The catastrophic impact of drunk drivers on innocent people is already well documented. Do we really want to encourage young people under the influence of marijuana to get behind the wheel of a car and hurt more innocent people? I say no.

Marijuana smokers suffer many of the same respiratory problems as cigarette smokers. The American Lung Association says cigarette smoking-related diseases claim over 393,000 American lives each year and cost the nation over $97 billion in lost productivity and $96 billion in direct health care expenditures. Encouraging the smoking of pot through legalization will only worsen those statistics.

Legalization proponents say we have to throw in the towel on the war on drugs and legalize marijuana so we can reap the benefits of taxing it. I say government’s insatiable desire for tax dollars should not rest on legalizing harmful substances to subsidize more wasteful spending. Government already taxes cigarettes and alcohol heavily to generate revenue and then spends money telling people to quit smoking and not to abuse alcohol. Following the same schizophrenic model, the government will do the same with marijuana: legalize it, tax it, and then direct people to government subsidized clinics to stop abusing marijuana. What’s next: Legalize cocaine or heroin so we can generate more government revenue?

The CNBC report on Colorado’s marijuana experiment showed tremendous entrepreneurial activity built around marijuana sales and a booming demand for the weed largely among middle age people. The sellers are raking in big money, but how long will 50- and 60-year-olds shell out good money to relive the 1960s and 70s? Or will “Big Pot’s” business model mirror that of cigarette companies — get them hooked young and keep them coming back?

Legalizing marijuana without knowing more about the social and health consequences is reckless and not something I can support.

Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce

DeCroce Bill Extending Permit Extension Moratorium Date Approved By Committee

Source: Assembly Republican Press Release -

Bipartisan legislation sponsored by Assembly Republican BettyLou DeCroce, R-Morris, Essex and Passaic, that re-instates the moratorium on the imposition of fees on non-residential construction projects through December 31, 2014, was approved by the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee today. The moratorium had expired on July 1, 2013.

“The building industry is one of New Jersey’s key economic drivers as it creates jobs and facilitates commerce,” said DeCroce. “Extending the moratorium will save builders from re-applying for approvals previously obtained which only drives up the costs of a project. The recent report that small business loan activity has increased 12 percent over the last six months in the state is certainly good news as this business segment accounts for the majority of our economic activity. Construction is an important first step in growing our economy.”

The legislation, A-1907, provides that municipalities are required to return any monies paid by a developer during the time period between July1, 2013, through the effective date of the bill. Municipalities that have already spent such fees on affordable housing projects would not be required to provide a refund. The Assembly unanimously approved the identical bill last December (A-4457), but it received no action in the Senate.

“Many jobs are created both directly and indirectly due to the building industry, such as suppliers, retailers, financial institutions and real estate,” stated DeCroce. “I would like to thank my colleagues Assemblymen Bramnick, Burzichelli, Singleton and Wimberly, and Assemblywoman Lampitt for working in a bipartisan manner on this legislation.”