Senator O'Scanlon Discusses Gov. Murphy's Top Budget Items

 

Steve Adubato sits down with Senator Declan O’Scanlon (R) – NJ, 13th Legislative District, to discuss the state's top budget items including legalization of marijuana, school funding, and NJ Transit, as well as his top priorities for 2019.
4/6/19 #304

 

 

 

 

Excerpt:

"There he is! State Senator Declan O'Scanlon, Republican from the 13th Legislative District. Where is that? Down Monmouth County. Bayshore Monmouth County, Little Silver, Fair Haven, Rumson, all the way up to Keyport, Keansburg, Union Beach Middletown in between, and 16 other great towns. You sure you didn't leave anyone out? Oh I did. But I'm not gonna go through the whole number. [laughter] Because I'll forget one, and... Exactly. But you won't forget this. The fact that the governor, Governor Murphy, has put out his budget. Go on our website, find out more. Also check out NJTV News every night to find out what's going on in state government. You...? And my website, www.declanoscalan.com, where my editorial about the governor's budget is, will cover things comprehensively. Well Senator, why don't you do this. Tell us what you like and what you didn't like about the governor's address. It's about priorities. It's about focusing on the things that are not particularly sexy, like spending new money on various programs, but taking care of the bills that we already have and the commitments we already have, including our commitments to public workers, property tax relief. You know, boring but important stuff like that. And getting away from the idea that every single budget's going to include new taxes, especially when we're not more greatly ramping up these obligations. There's not one... So you don't like... excuse me for interrupting Senator O'Scanlon, the proposed increase on taxes on those who earn one million dollars or more that the governor's put out, you think is a...? I think it's extraordinarily ill-informed. I... But we need that revenue don't we? You know what? Well then let's go to an 80 percent. Let's take it to its logical conclusion. Let's tax those people's income to 80 percent. No one would say that that's a good idea. They'd say these people are going to leave in droves. At some point, there's a straw that breaks the camel's back. We've already exceeded that. There are people leaving the state because they can afford it. They don't have to be in Florida for six months. They could... all you have to do is be out of the state... To establish legal residency? ...for six months and a day. They've already got a house in Florida, a condo in Florida, for four months. Get a Manhattan apartment, stay there for four day weekends for another 12-15 weeks a year, and you take your taxes down to zero. So they can do that. They have done that. And it's a terrible message to send. We just last week had folks at the national level saying avoid states with incredibly high levels of unfunded... But respectfully Senator, sorry for interrupting, the governor says this is about tax fairness..."