The messaging war over affordability continued in Clinton on Thursday where Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli unveiled a 10-point affordability agenda.
“New Jersey’s affordability crisis is crushing working families, seniors, and young people — and they deserve real relief, not gimmicks,” explained Ciattarelli. “While my opponent rubberstamped Phil Murphy’s failed policies that drove costs through the roof, I laid out my detailed plan today to cut and cap property taxes, fix school funding, lower energy and utility bills, reduce income and business taxes, and roll back wasteful government spending. Together, we can make the Garden State affordable again.”
Ciattarelli’s counter-offensive comes as Democrats continued to run ads (falsely) accusing the GOP candidate of endorsing a 10% sales tax hike.
Here it is:
Ciattarelli’s Garden State 10-Point Affordability Agenda
- Cut and cap property taxes, tying it to a percentage of assessed home value, so that working families and young people can afford to buy a home, while expanding the senior property tax freeze.
- Replace the current school funding formula with one that standardizes and caps per pupil spending and rewards – not punishes – high-performing school districts that have seen funding slashed, schools closed, and extracurricular activities cut under S2. Also, make the state pick up 100% of the cost of special education.
- Replace all current members of the NJ Board of Public Utilities and draft and implement a new Energy Master Plan that promotes an all-of-the-above energy policy that bans offshore wind farms for good and repeals unrealistic and unaffordable state mandates and timelines regarding electric vehicle sales, household appliances, home renovation, and home construction, all of which would only make New Jersey even more expensive and punish working- and middle-class residents the most. Lastly, we will withdraw New Jersey from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which will provide at least $300+ million in annual savings to New Jersey ratepayers.
- Responsibly roll back the 70% increase in state spending pushed through over the past eight years and aggressively use the line-item veto pen to eliminate and prevent waste and put an end to pork spending on pet projects.
- Reduce the Corporation Business Tax by one percent per year for five years, taking it from the highest rate in the nation to one that is competitive nationally.
- Reduce income taxes for all taxpayers, consolidate tax brackets, prohibit property tax increases on home improvements, and make health insurance premiums and student loan interest tax 100% tax deductible.
- Attract more young people to move to New Jersey by refunding the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition for anyone who attends college here and then lives and works in the state for a minimum of three years upon graduation.
- Appoint an Auditor General to target and weed out unnecessary spending and fraud in government through audits and investigations, including thorough review of the 3,000 seats on the nearly 500 unelected boards and commissions across the state, and use his appointment power to consolidate, reshape and streamline them with the goal of accountability.
- Appoint and empower a new Chief Technology Officer who will bring state government information systems into the 21st century to maximize cost efficiencies and make citizens and business engagement with all state agencies more user-friendly and expedient.
- Reform the state budget process to mandate a four-week “cooling off period” between when a spending bill is drafted and when it is voted on by legislators so the press, and the public have time to read it – ending the ability of politicians to use the threat of government shutdowns to rush through bloated budgets and pork-barrel spending.
