Paging the old Chris Christie — the one who won office four years ago, shaking up the Trenton establishment and staking out a strong stand on issues like restraining New Jersey’s onerous property taxes.
That Christie was so successful, his message was heard across the Hudson by Andrew Cuomo, who as governor pushed through his own property-tax cap.
Alas, it now appears that Christie — despite a huge lead in his re-election campaign — is taking his cues from Gov. Cuomo. You know, from the governor whose idea of opening up New York’s economy is to get taxpayers to subsidize NBC star Jimmy Fallon.
This week, Christie issued a “conditional veto” of the so-called New Jersey Economic Opportunity Act, which expands the state’s hodgepodge of special tax treatment and “incentives.” The legislation is thought to be a way to keep companies such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volvo and Subaru from moving out of state.
Now, this legislation was far worse before Christie took his pen to it. In so doing, New Jersey’s governor struck language that would have required companies getting these credits to pay “prevailing wages” — that is, above-market rates — for maintenance workers. And overall the bill simplifies the credits programs.
The downside is that Christie is playing the “tax credit” game at all. In the end, the states that do best economically (think Texas, Florida, etc.) are those creating all-around low-tax, low-regulation environments to make it easier for all companies to do business.
We kind of preferred when Gov. Christie was influencing Gov. Cuomo rather than the other way ’round.