Ex-Gov. James Florio: Learning From New Jersey’s Tax Folly

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/opinion/new-jersey-taxes.html

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To the Editor:

The people of New Jersey have particular credentials for evaluating President Trump’s tax plan. In 1994, a similar regressive tax cut proposal was enacted in our state. The billions of dollars in lost revenue were not offset by program reductions or alternative revenues.

The cuts and the resultant lost revenue were financed by a policy of failing to properly fund the New Jersey Pension Fund for the next 23 years, under both Democratic and Republican administrations.

The New Jersey Pension Plan is now underfunded in excess of $60 billion. It is anticipated that the current G.O.P. plan will add $1.5 trillion to our national debt. Let’s not duplicate New Jersey’s folly.

JAMES J. FLORIOMOORESTOWN, N.J.

The writer was the Democratic governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994.