GREENWALD: STUNNING VETO WILL DAMAGE n.J.’S ECONOMY & HURT JOB GROWTH FOR YEARS
(TRENTON) – Assembly Budget Chairman Lou Greenwald (D-Camden) released the following statement Friday after Gov. Chris Christie vetoed legislation he sponsored (A-1678) to reinvigorate New Jersey’s economy and put people back to work via a New Jersey Homebuyer Tax Credit program. The bill passed the Assembly 67-8-2 and the Senate 38-0:
“This veto is a critical mistake that will damage our economy for years. It is catastrophic for New Jersey.
“The facts are simple and obvious to everyone but the governor – home sales fell 23 percent in May, and 27 percent in June. Home construction has plummeted. Our unemployment stands at 9.6 percent.
“Just yesterday the New York Federal Reserve Bank detailed how New Jersey has yet to see strong signs of economic recovery, even as the region has started to pull out of the recession. While New York has rebounded strongly, I fear New Jersey, thanks to this veto, will hit bottom.
“We are now headed toward sharp cuts in home prices that hurt our larger economy. Carpenters, bricklayers, pipefitters, builders, banks and lenders will continue to struggle to find jobs.
“When a home is sold in New Jersey, income generated from real estate related industries and additional expenditures such as furniture and appliances totals nearly $40,000. That will not happen.
“Tax revenues that would have more than made up for the $33 million spent on this program in the first year will not be generated.
“This tax credit meant to help working class New Jerseyans would have driven our economy in so many ways. Instead, this veto will keep people out of work, send more people to the unemployment line and shutter businesses.
“This stunning veto is another example of Gov. Christie’s clear lack of understanding in what it means to be a middle-class and lower-income New Jerseyan struggling just to make ends meet.
“This is a historic moment in New Jersey history. New Jersey is at a crossroads. By vetoing this legislation the governor has taken us on the wrong turn and sending us on a course of financial disaster and delaying any hope of economic recovery.”