NJPP: Definitely smarter than a fifth grader.

Last year the fine folks at New Jersey Policy Perspective turned 10 years old, the same age many kids New Jersey turn when they are in the fifth grade. And Jon Shure and NJPP are definitely smarter than any fifth grader. And way ahead of the curve, too.

They said, regarding NJ’s income gap:

The numbers are in and the trend continues: the rich are indeed getting richer. The latest confirmation comes from the state's own Status of Income report on tax returns.

Furthermore,

“the New Jersey Treasury Department found that just about half the income in the state goes to those making more than $100,000 a year, and only about 25 percent goes to those making less than $50,000-even though there are far more of these people.

And finally, they cited Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll of Morris “saying the numbers mean the economy is creating opportunities for everyone.” Carroll warned against dealing with the income gap by raising the state income tax, arguing that ‘The politics of envy doesn't work. All you will do is scare people off to Florida or Pennsylvania. You want very productive people to stay here.’ "

Very forward thinking, NJPP. Thing is, you said that waaay back in 1999 in a press release, talking about the income gap back then ---when you were just a mere tot of 2 years old. Even at that age, you were smarter than most Republicans, and, of course, Mr. Carroll.

Unfortunately, things in NJ have not changed much since you were two.


More recently, at the end of March 2008, you guys were right on the money again:

“Nearly 1 in 5 New Jersey Families Struggles To Make Ends Meet despite Having a Working Adult”

“Despite being one of the nation's most affluent states, New Jersey is home to close to 200,000 families that have a working adult but still make too little in pay and benefits to adequately support themselves, a new study has found. According to a study by Rutgers Center for Women and Work and New Jersey Policy Perspective, Climbing the Ladder: How to Invest in New Jersey's Working Families,

“The number of low-income working families in the state has climbed by 16 percent since 2000, the study found. In all, these families include about 750,000 mothers, fathers and children.”

Some recommendations in the report include increasing the minimum wage, providing family leave insurance, increasing spending for adult education, and making higher education, particularly county colleges, more affordable and accessible to low-income working adults.

Keep up the good work, NJPP. Now and for the next ten years, too.

The New Jersey report is available at www.njpp.org or www.cww.rutgers.edu.

New Jersey: We’re Not The Biggest Loser

Last month, a study came out that was circulated world wide that showed how New Jersey was getting smaller and smaller. But as it turns out, we're not really the biggest loser.

Apparently, according to a Rutgers University study, more people were leaving New Jersey than coming in. However, according to the fine folks at the New Jersey Policy Perspective, that conclusion was just plain wrong: “..a closer inspection shows that the Rutgers report’s doomsday forecast is based on selective use of census data.”

Rutgers using census data selectively? That can’t be good for an educational institution.

The Rutgers study showed that 231,565 more people left than came in ----that measured state-to-state movement, according to Mary E. Forsberg, the research director at the New Jersey Policy Perspective. The Rutgers report failed to take into account little things that impact population --- like births, deaths and immigration. Go figure.

Since 2000, New Jersey has increased in population from 8,414,350 to 8,724,560. That is an increase of 310,210. New Jersey, according to the NJPP analysis, has the fifth-largest immigrant stream of any state in the nation.

So, New Jersey, by the numbers , is not losing people, period. Thanks to Mary, for pointing that out.

One to a customer, please!

Trenton Democrats have finally put an end to a practice that has plagued NJ for years: Dual office holding. And sometimes, triple and qradruple office holding. Both parties have been guilty of this practice. Tom O'Neill wrote about this back in June of 2006 for New Jersey Policy Perspective.

Here is a blurb from an article from the Star-Ledger about the issue:

"After a year of political wrangling and false starts, legislation to make it illegal for public officials to land more than one elected post after next February easily cleared the Assembly yesterday. Assembly members argued for about an hour before passing the measure 69-3 with eight abstentions. The bill (A4326) is scheduled for a final vote in the Senate later this month."

In our own County of Hunterdon, Repubs will squawk that this bill does not "do enough". It is a compromise for sure, but it does address the issue just the same. Now that dual office holding will be illegal in NJ, those who do hold more than one office will be pressured come election time to make a choice. Indeed, their feet will be held to the political fire by their opponents in both the primary and the general election.

Of course, many in the Repubs Party have held dual offices themselves:

George Melick was on the Tewksbury Twp Committee very early when he was freeholder.

Marcia Karrow was a Raritan Township Committee woman, and freeholder at the same time. And then she was freeholder and Assemblywoman at the same time.

Melick and Karrow gave up their offices, and now hold just one elective office.

Ron Sworen is the mayor of Frenchtown and a freeholder --- and he is running again for Mayor. Dual office holding should most definately be an issue in his race in November.

Now it will be phased in as the law. It is a good start to handle an old problem.

Next: Those seeking office should have to pinpoint where they take money from developers on their ELEC filings, regardless of the amount.