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Issues
Affordable
Housing
I have been
an advocate of affordable housing for our
seniors and young families to buy and/or stay
in their homes. Instead of helping families
stay together and live in the neighborhoods
they grew up in, New Jersey government has not
only made it harder to purchase affordable
housing due to the high cost of property
taxes, but almost impossible for those on a
fixed income to stay in their homes.
Retirees’
on fixed incomes cannot keep up with the
property taxes, forcing our seniors out of
their homes. Property taxes are taking a large
chunk out of retirement savings. Low-wage
workers and families living on disability or
social security have to pay a higher
percentage of their income, as landlords
increase their rent.
First time
homebuyers are hurt as property tax increases
push home ownership further away.
State
Officials need to look for ways to expand
investment in housing development, and
strengthen programs to help New Jersey afford
housing, and create policies encouraging
affordable housing development
As the cost
of housing continues to climb, our leaders
must look into every possibility and be open
to new ideas to lower the cost of housing.
With a 20
to 40% decrease in property market values, the
current real estate mortgage crisis, a 7-month
backlog in real estate inventory, and
foreclosures going through the roof,
residential property taxes should be going
down.
Approximately
a $1500 dollar property tax reduction would
give $20,000 more in home purchase value.
Rising
housing costs together with continued modest
wage gains present an economic and social
challenge.
According
to Freddie Mac Housing and Mortgage
Statistics, New Jersey families are the third
wealthiest in the country. In the past five
years, the average house price in New Jersey
appreciated over 80 percent, benefiting
67.3 percent of households. However, high home
prices are taking a toll on housing
affordability.
Many
families aren’t earning enough to stay ahead
of inflation. They are working more, but still
are not able to afford or keep their housing.
In going door-to-door I have met many upper
income families who are telling me they may
have to sell their homes.
Economy
The
quickest way to stifle an economy is to take
more money out of the pockets of those who
work to support economic growth.
A
weak economy will lead to increased
unemployment. Declines in the labor force,
higher taxes, higher costs of oil, rising
medical costs, all have an adverse effect on
economic growth, and lead to a larger
deficit.
Investors
will invest less, those who save will save
less. By cutting wasteful spending, lowering
taxes, providing incentives for small business
to expand, are all factors that would
contribute to stimulating growth.
Taking
money out of the pockets of the working class
will lower their standard of living and will
lead to an increase of dependence on
government programs for many.
By
controlling spending so it does not grow
faster than the rate of inflation, we would
ensure that the government lives within its
means and provides the basic services that our
citizens require.
Education
Education
is the key to our success as a nation, and the
education of our children is a number one
priority.
I will work
towards legislation that would adopt and fully
fund a responsible school funding formula and
responsible property tax reform.
Since 2002
spending for the 31 Abbott districts has
increased from $3.186 billion to $4.205
billion. At the same time, state aid for the
remaining school districts increased by a
total of $189.5 million. The percentage of
state aid going to these 31 districts is 57%
of the total, up from 52% in 2002. At the same
time, enrollment in the Abbott districts has
remained constant at 23%.
I’ll work
hard to make sure that education dollars are
spent on students – not on an education
bureaucracy. We need to reward excellent
teachers by paying them like the professionals
they are – and hold underachieving teachers
accountable. With that accountability we can
attract and retain quality teachers. Reducing
class sizes, providing the necessary programs
so that our children will be prepared to
compete in the job market, these are the goals
that need to be addressed.
Our schools
are over crowded and our students don’t
always have the tools they need in the
classroom to receive the best possible
education. If elected, I’ll fight to make
sure that students have the textbooks they
need and that we have the resources to build
enough schools to stop over-crowding.
Our tax
dollars should be spent ensuring that New
Jersey's students have the skills they need to
succeed in life.
When new
neighborhoods are built, we must ensure that
schools are built in a timely manner to handle
the influx of new students.
The
era of unfunded mandates in public education
needs to end now. If full funding is not
provided, we must relax the penalties placed
on our
schools.. To keep our community property taxes
down, funding must be provided so schools
should not have to ask for increases to meet
the unrealistic goals that are forced on them.
Higher
education has been neglected. While state
spending has increased by almost 37% between
2002 and 2007, the direct state appropriation
for New Jersey’s institutions of education
has increased by less than 2%. For 2007 New
Jersey was one of only three states to cut the
level of state support for higher education,
while tuition has gone up 35% over the past
five years.
I
have been critical of the budget cuts
inflicted on our state colleges and
universities. Ensuring that primary and
secondary education are well funded will make
sure we guarantee a cost-effective, quality
education for New Jersey's students from
kindergarten to their college graduation. I
will work hard to bring federal dollars back
to New Jersey to aid our state colleges and
universities that have been neglected in this
state over the last five years.
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We
need to apply Homeland Security funding to our
schools.
Is it that
our school and elected officials are afraid to
talk about it as it may generate more fear in
our communities?
By not
addressing, the real threat of terrorism in
our schools it creates more fear amongst
parents and school officials due to lack of
information,. Education, communication
and preparation are the best way to manage
fear.
We need to
create a comprehensive safe school plan at the
district level. Have a school security staff,
conduct periodic drills, coordinate
emergency management plans, screen vendors who
provide services to schools enact and
implement safety and crises preparedness policies.
Our
teachers are the first responders in any
school emergency and need to be trained and
prepared on how to handle a crisis situation.
This would
not be voluntary it must be mandated.
Although
a terrorist attack upon schools in the United
States
or
our community may be an improbability,
the first step toward preparedness is
admitting that it is at least possible that
terrorists could strike a school or schools.
How much of
an improbability is it? Stockton California(1989),
Frontier Jr. High Washington
(1996), Pearl High School Mississippi
(1997), Littleton Colorado
(4/20/99), Taber , Alberta Canada
(5/28/99), Conyers Georgia (5/20/99),
Deming New Mexico (11/19/99),
Fort Gibson Oklahoma (12/6/99),
Santee California (3/ 5/01), El
Cajon California (3/22/01), Red Lake High School, Minnesota
(2005), Amish School Pennsylvania
(2006),
Blacksburg Virginia
(4/16/07)
The
trend in recent years to cut school safety
budgets is disturbing. Our leaders have pushed to increase
funding to protect our airlines,
bridges, monuments, and hallways of
Capitol Hill It makes no sense to cut funding
to protect the children and teachers in the
"soft target" hallways of America
's
schools.
Funding
for school security and emergency planning
should not only be spared from cuts, but
should also be incrementally increased as we
continue to increase our national defense and
anti-terrorism preparedness in other public
sectors.
This
is where accountability comes in for Homeland
Security Funds. Where has the money been
spent?
Our
leaders must acknowledge that it is a
possibility that some form of terrorism can
occur in our schools and we must have plans to
prevent and prepare for such an incident.
The
public must be informed as to what our
local schools, officials and teachers
will do in safeguarding our children in
the event of terroristic threats.
Eminent
Domain
Our trust
is placed in the officials elected to
represent us and protect our rights.
The
original intent of eminent domain has been
altered. It is up to the officials of our
communities, who were elected to enforce the
codes of our communities to avert blighted
conditions. Eminent domain was to empower
government to take property for the public
good when all other options were exhausted.
Eminent
Domain abuse must be stopped.
No
individual property should be taken against
the will of a property owner in good standing,
by force or threat of eminent domain for the
purpose of private
redevelopment.
Government
needs to provide fair value to any homeowner
whose property is taken for the public good.
We need to
place a moratorium on private development
until we have standards put in place to determine what
is a blighted area, and strict criteria as to
what determines
the enforcement of eminent domain.
Ethics
New
Jersey needs an open and accessible
government.
It
is time for elected officials to restore
confidence in the political system. It is time
to put the interests of the public over
special interests.
We need
to reform government and clean up the business
as usual in politics. Officials should be held
accountable to the citizens who placed us in
office, to restore and maintain the trust of
the public.
When
elected officials are allowed to push an
agenda for private gain over the wishes of the
public good, when corruption and pay-to-play
are ignored, government has failed the
voters.
When
cynicism is prevalent among the voting public,
good candidates lose, and the citizens lose
good candidates.
I
have questioned the integrity of ethics
pay-to-play policies on the county level and
will continue to do so when elected to the NJ
Assembly.
Illegal
Immigration
I would support a
bill that would require all companies with
employees in New Jersey to verify employees'
legal immigration status using a federal
database.
I will work on a
bill that would eliminate or cut back social services
provided to illegal aliens.
I
would work on a bill to fine any landlord
renting to illegal aliens.
We need to prohibit the children of illegal
immigrants from attending public schools and
deny welfare to illegal aliens.
Illegal
aliens attend our state universities at lower
tuition rates than Americans who are not state
residents, a benefit not even offered to many
of America’s veterans and military members.
A Heritage
Foundation study estimates that a typical
illegal alien costs taxpayers $1.2 million in
lifetime benefits and the total cost of the
amnesty proposal would have been $2.6
trillion.
Before we can deal
the illegal immigrants already here, we must
close our borders first to curtail further
illegal migration.
The current
immigration reform bill if approved in its
present form, will erode our society through
our jobs and retirement. It will have an
impact upon unions, it will have an impact on
small business, our standard of living,
education, housing, medical, and our future
retirement benefits.
Polls showed
that 78% of the people were against this bill.
On June 28
the Senate immigration bill was defeated
46-53.
Any further
attempt at Immigration reform won't happen
until after the 2008 elections.
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“In
the first place, we should insist that if the
immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes
an American and assimilates himself to us, he
shall be treated on an exact equality with
everyone else, for it is an outrage to
discriminate against any such man because of
creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is
predicated upon the person’s becoming in
every facet an American, and nothing but an
American…There can be no divided allegiance
here. Any man who says he is an American, but
something else also, isn’t an American at
all. We have room for but one flag, the
American flag… We have room for but one
language here, and that is the English
language .. and we have room for but one sole
loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American
people.”
- Theodore Roosevelt 1907
Small
Business
Small business owners are the backbone of our
nation. The job of New Jersey government is to
help business grow and provide employment to
the people that live in their communities. To
often the paperwork and government
intervention makes it difficult. We need to
make it easier for small business owners
to run a business, not spending their time
filling out government forms and reports.
As
a prior business owner, I know what it takes
to run a business, the long hours needed, the
weekends spent away from your family, the cost
of health insurance, the red tape involved in
running a business.
Raising
taxes to pay for runaway government spending
does not open the door for small business.
Instead it forces business owners to move or
close up shop and forces them to lay off
employees.
An income
tax rate was imposed in 2004 and raised the
tax rate to 8.97 percent for those with
incomes over $500,000. Many small businesses
pay this personal income tax rather than the
Corporation Business Tax and were affected by
this increase.
Employers
of small business should be able to provide at
least the basic minimum in health care
benefits for their families and employees.
Health care
access for all New Jersey residents is key to
maintaining a vital, working economy. Quality
healthcare is unaffordable and must be priced
so that small business owners and individuals
can afford the cost. Small business employs
the majority of uninsured in New Jersey,
defined as those who employ less than 50
employees.
I will work
toward bringing affordable health care to the small
business owners of NJ and the self employed,
for themselves and their employees.
We need to
create a business friendly environment or our
economy will suffer even greater.
We need to
offer incentives to business that go
"green" who are sensitive to our
environment. Tax incentive, rebates to those
businesses that buy fuel efficient vehicles.
The
money saved in fuel and the damage to our
environment would pay for itself.
Taxes
The single
unfair tax we pay is property tax, especially
to those who can least afford it.
New Jersey
homeowners pay the highest taxes in the
country. Over the past five years taxes have
risen 37%, with 70% going towards
education.
For the
working families of New Jersey we need true
property tax reform, I will work to put more
money back into the pockets of New Jersey
taxpayers. I will work to put more disposable
income into the homes of those who make up the
bulk of our tax base.
We need to
place a moratorium on state spending.
It is time
we stop raising taxes and start making cuts.
We need to
stop penalizing people for the mistakes of our
legislature.
State debt
has increased over 150% over the last 5 years.
Taxpayers
are paying approximately 36.1% more in
property taxes than they did just five years
ago. There have been five straight years of
dramatic property tax increases of 7%, 7.6%,
6.5%, 6.5% and 6.9%.
26 new
taxes were introduced into last year’s
budget. Since 2002 over 94 new taxes have been
instituted, generating almost $6 billion in
new revenue. Average property tax increase in
the last 5 years.... 35 percent.
Even though
our legislators have voted to give you a 20%
tax deduction, the final package of this
legislation will do little or nothing to
reduce the rate of increase in property taxes,
let alone lower actual tax payments. What we
have is a tax shift, instead of a net tax cut.
New Jersey
Government needs to cut spending and start
trimming entitlements.
New Jersey
is in the worst shape it has ever been
in.
Veterans
Our
disabled veterans with less than 20 years of
service cannot collect both their full
military retirement pay and their VA
disability compensation.
Veterans
pay into Medicare for most of their lives, yet
the law prohibits them from using Medicare
benefits at a VA hospital. Veterans should be
eligible for Medicare at a VA hospital, the
same as they would at any other
hospital. Congress must adopt Medicare
reimbursement as payment for VA medical care.
Our veterans have paid Medicare premiums and
are entitled to receive those benefits. I will
support Mandatory Funding or Advance Funding
for our veterans, funding provided at the
beginning of the fiscal year. We must keep the
promises that were made to our military men
and women for the sacrifices they made, when
called upon to serve.
Maintenance
of the Walter Reed Hospital is run and done by
civilians. First priority should be given to
our veterans in the upkeep of this facility.
It is a
crime that Illegal aliens receive a free
education, free housing, free medical, and are
entitled to social security. Aliens that walk
on our soil who never lifted a finger to
protect this country or fight for American
rights or freedoms. Aliens who feel they are
entitled to receive what was earned from those
who gave their lives in the name
of America. Soil that through
decades our military men and women fought
to defend, so that we as Americans are
able to enjoy our freedoms and benefits.
The shame
of it all is that every veteran that ever
fought for our freedom has to come
home and still fight for their benefits, they
or their families receive nothing for free.
If we are
to give away anything it should be to those
who served in combat to protect our heritage,
traditions and values, not to those who think
they deserve it just because they are
here.
Any veteran
who serves away from home during war should
have their taxes tabled to lessen the hardship
on their families.
Notes
from Joe
In New
Jersey we have many issues to confront in the
coming years and I look forward to taking the
lead in helping to deal with them. I believe
that our quality of life in the New Jersey is
second to none and we need to be sure that we
secure it for the future.
Such a
standard requires that we focus on ideas like
smart growth to ensure that our serene
environment and transportation corridors
benefit us all for years to come. I understand
the importance of being forward-looking in
terms of our transportation needs.
I propose
to offer incentives for municipalities to buy
fuel-efficient vehicles, not by outlawing
SUV's. That is not the answer, nor is it a
solution. Government needs to lead by example,
by offering incentives instead of
penalties.
Since the
end of the fiscal year 2001, state debt has
increased by $21.3 billion from $16.2 billion
to $37.5 billion. In five years state debt has
increased by more than 130%. In order to pay
down this debt, every man woman and child
would have to pay the state $4,300.
As a
legislator, I will focus on fiscal
responsibility- after all; this is not the
Legislature's money that is being spent, but
that of the people of New Jersey.
It is our
responsibility to prioritize our spending
needs and return to the taxpayers whatever
money is not necessary for the function of
good government.
With 80% of
our tax dollars going to 20% of the Abbott
districts, we need to find a different formula
for funding education.
In the
Assembly I will be an advocate of
accountability in education. We owe it to the
children of New Jersey to not only provide the
resources to be successful in school, but also
the resources necessary to succeed in life.
To do so,
we must have a standard by which we gauge the
success of our students to determine how our
educational system can better serve them.
NJ Health
care costs are unaffordable for many. Rising
health care costs are offsetting salary gains
for many workers. Employees that receive a
base salary of $30,000 with an increase of 3.6
percent will use 23 percent of that increase
to pay for the increase in health care costs
next year.
I will fight
to bring down the high costs of health
insurance so that all the citizens of New
Jersey can benefit from the best care
possible.
It is time
for change. My pledge to you, will be to
face the tough issues and challenges that need
to be addressed in New Jersey.
Please join
me today so that we can accomplish these goals
together!
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