BECK, CASAGRANDE AND O’SCANLON ASK CORZINE:

 SO NOW TAX HOLIDAYS ARE A GOOD IDEA?

State Senator Jennifer Beck, Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande and Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon today said they are surprised to hear that just a month after rejecting a Republican proposal for a tax holiday, Governor Jon Corzine is suddenly embracing – a tax holiday.

“Any idea that will allow taxpayers to keep more money in their pockets is worth examining,” said Beck, R-Monmouth and Mercer. “The question is, if Governor Corzine truly thinks that tax holidays can be beneficial, why was he unwilling to sit down with us and discuss the possibility of a sales tax holiday just last month?”

“Retail businesses are closing and people are losing jobs, but Governor Corzine quickly dismissed the idea of a sales tax holiday,” said Casagrande, R-Monmouth and Mercer. “Now he is proposing a payroll tax holiday. While I agree that any tax break proposal should be given due consideration during this economic downturn, it would have been nice if the Governor had given our proposal that same consideration.”

“While I welcome any debate over what the most effective tax cut would be for helping ease the burden on New Jersey taxpayers, it is ironic that the Governor was so quick do dismiss our suggestion and now is proposing something similar,” said O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth and Mercer “We all agree that New Jersey residents are taxed too heavily and deserve a break. I’m afraid that this report suggests the governor’s opposition to our plan was based more on politics than on economic principles.”

The Press of Atlantic City today reported that Corzine called for a federal stimulus package in a speech Wednesday, and suggesting that Americans would benefit from a holiday on flat-rate payroll taxes during the recession.

“The most onerous tax, the most regressive tax that everybody pays are the payroll taxes, and it seems to me that if you wanted to actually help middle-class Americans, that would certainly be the place that I would go,” Corzine said.

The governor defined the holiday as placing an income limit on who has to pay the payroll taxes while the recession lasts or cutting the rates in half during that period.

Republicans in the New Jersey Legislature had proposed cutting the sales tax in half during the holiday shopping season in an effort to boost consumer spending, help retailers and allow shoppers to keep more money in their pockets. The proposal came as analysts projected this to be the worst holiday shopping season for retailers in decades.

When Republicans unveiled the plan in October, Corzine was quick to say that he would not support the proposal.