Gov. Chris Christie today vetoed a bill that would give tax credits of up to $15,000 to homebuyers, saying the state could not afford to forego $100 million in tax revenue over the program’s proposed three-year lifespan. The bill, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support late in the spring, would have provided three-quarters of the funding to buyers of newly built homes.
Christie has said that while he would support some economic development programs in other times, the state does not have the luxury of paying for them now.
Though the Republican governor did not specifically praise this program in his veto, he said he was “forced to cut many worthwhile programs from the fiscal year 2011 budget. … I cannot approve legislation, no matter how meritorious, when the state simply cannot afford it.”
Proponents of the bill have said the attempt at stimulus would have helped bring the state out of the recession.
“The homebuyer’s tax credit program would have reinvigorated the building industry and provided a much-needed boost to the state’s slumping economy,” Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen) said in a statement. “This action the governor took today will only exacerbate our economic problems. It is beyond disappointing.”
But Christie argued in his veto the money would have been used by people already committed to buying homes and would “briefly and artificially inflate home values.” Full story in Star Ledger.
bravo governor! a tleast someone in the political echelons has some guts to do whats right!
Great, dont give the middleclass a tax break. Protect the upper class and veto the millionar(sp) tax, spend money to develop Atlantic City instead.
I hope people start thinking about what his party is all about.
You’re getting confused between a tax giveaway and a tax. The $15,000 is just giving someone $15,000. The Millionaire tax (which was for people making a lot less than $1M) was to actually let them keep the money that they earn and not TAKE AWAY an additional amount of money over their, already, large tax bracket.
It’s about stimulating the economy and not creating more welfare dependency that is actually not an economic stimulant since it comes from the tax coffers.
Christe is doing great. a lot of unions are “badmouthing” him but he is making the hard decisions unlike Washington where thay are spending like drunk saliors our governor is cutting the “slosh” fund to political hacks like builders and cities. there will be cities in NJ like Trenton that will soon be bankrupt as the state has s topped giving funding to nonsense and wasteful programs. Hopefully the state will step in and take control and sweep out all forms of corruption.
Go Christie!! Lakewood is solidly behind you!!!