On Tax Day, NJ Progressives Push For Murphy's Millionaire Tax

Did you wince when you paid your taxes this year, New Jersey? Remember that feeling the next time you hear about a millionaire tax in the Garden State, a group of grassroots activists says.

On Monday, dozens of advocates from the Better Choices for New Jersey Coalition teamed up during the morning rush hour to hand out flyers at transit stops and post offices in 10 communities around the state: Collingswood, Elizabeth, Fair Lawn, Long Branch, Millburn, Montclair, New Brunswick, Newark, Red Bank and South Orange.

The activists asked commuters to call their legislators in support of the millionaires tax proposed in Gov. Phil Murphy’s 2020 state budget.

• See related article: NJ Progressives Offer 5 Reasons Why Millionaire Tax Is 'No-Brainer'

The flyer passed out during Monday's action read:

“Congratulations! You filed your taxes on Tax Day. You know who didn’t pay their fair share this year? New Jersey’s millionaires. For eight years, Chris Christie cut taxes for the wealthy. Now, Gov. Murphy wants to tax the rich to invest in transit and schools. But the legislators who talked a big game when Christie was governor can’t seem to get behind a millionaires tax now. This Tax Day, call your legislators and demand a millionaires tax!”

The coalition elaborated on the need for a millionaire tax in a Monday press release:

“Gov. Murphy’s proposed FY 2020 Budget includes a millionaires tax that would raise $447 million in new revenue. Democratic legislators passed a millionaires tax five times during the Christie Administration, but each time the measure was vetoed by the governor. Now, many of the same Democratic legislators have so far refused to back Murphy’s proposed millionaires tax despite the fact that 72 percent of voters support the measure. Analysis from New Jersey Policy Perspective shows that working New Jerseyans pay a greater share of their income in taxes than the state’s wealthiest 5 percent.”

Coalition participants on Monday included representatives from the Amalgamated Transit Union, Clean Water Action, Communication Workers of America, Indivisible CD5, New Jersey Citizen Action, New Jersey Working Families, Our Revolution Essex, and Our Revolution Monmouth.

MURPHY'S MILLIONAIRE TAX: WILL IT MAKE THE RICH FLEE?

On April 4, researchers from Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute and Fairleigh Dickinson University announced the results of a joint poll on the proposed millionaire tax, finding that about seven out of 10 New Jersey residents are in favor of the idea.

• See related article: Overwhelming Public Support For New Jersey Millionaire Tax (POLL)

However, Murphy's proposal has met with major pushback from state lawmakers… including those from his own political party.

According to Better Choices for New Jersey:

"Democratic legislators passed a millionaires tax five times during the Christie Administration, but each time the measure was vetoed by the governor. Now, many of the same Democratic legislators have so far refused to back Murphy's proposed millionaires tax despite the fact that two-thirds of voters support the measure."

Some opponents of the millionaire tax have claimed it will make already high taxes in New Jersey even more unbearable, causing wealthy residents to flee the state.

In March, New Jersey Business and Industry Association (NJBIA) Vice President of Government Affairs Andrew Musick called for no tax increases in his testimony on the FY 2020 state budget before the Senate Budget Committee.

"NJBIA has long opposed an increase in the state's GIT for those earning over $1 million, as it will directly impact companies that provide jobs and help drive New Jersey's economy," Musick said. "This includes the businesses which represent approximately 10 percent of all GIT revenue reported by companies in 2016."

Musick said that over the past 12 years, New Jersey has experienced a net loss of nearly $25 billion in adjusted gross income, as businesses and residents look toward more tax-friendly states.

"Applying the top GIT rate to those earning $1 million will make the state less competitive within our region, especially our top two outmigration states of Pennsylvania and New York," he charged.

• See related article: Accountants Critique NJ Budget, Millionaire Tax

But some experts, such as Sheila Reynertson of New Jersey Policy Perspective, have thrown water on the belief that millionaires will flee the state if their income taxes are increased.

"Worry that wealthy taxpayers will flee New Jersey should be dismissed by peer-reviewed research findings, the vast majority of which show that raising the state income tax has a negligible effect on relocation decisions,” Reynertson said earlier this month.

“The number of New Jersey taxpayers with incomes over $500,000 has consistently grown even as income tax rates on wealthy households have been increased twice,” Reynertson said. “The share of these taxpayers grew an astonishing 450 percent, between 1994 and 2016, the most recent year for which data is publicly available. Millionaire tax flight is a myth, and that fact doesn't go away when lawmakers hear anecdotal stories from estate planners.”

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