Coalition urges lawmakers to act on state crisis
Guest Column
N.J. Regional Coalition
Recently, two leading experts on New Jersey's economic health released a devastating report of unprecedented population loss from our state.

The report by Rutgers economists James Hughes and Joseph Seneca indicates that people are leaving New Jersey at three times the rate they were five years ago. It says New Jersey is losing so many people that it is harming the state's economy - costing hundreds of millions of dollars in state revenues and billions from its economy.

The most common reasons cited for the mass exodus is our state's highest-in-thenation property taxes and the crisis of affordable housing - two issues that Gov. Jon Corzine and our state legislative leaders in the Senate and the Assembly promised to tackle in 2007.

They promised to address taxes through property tax reform and an overhaul of our unfair school funding system. They promised to address the housing crisis by creating more affordable units and reforming our fair housing rules, including confronting the ugly and shameful practice of Regional Contribution Agreements (RCAs), the loophole that allows wealthy towns to pay poor communities to take more than their fair share of affordable housing.

Three and half years ago, then-Majority Leader Joseph Roberts condemned RCAs and vowed to use all his power to abolish the practice; then U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine ran for governor on a promise to confront the housing crisis and to reform the property tax system.

Yet today, two years into the governor's term, we still have neither tax reform nor RCA abolition. The burden is again placed on local municipal governments and local school boards to bear the fiscal burden and political brunt of affordable housing along with rising costs and diminished revenues.

Mayors and school officials are again blamed for the crisis of housing, while the Legislature and the governor must feel that, once again, they've dodged a bullet.

But even as they shift blame, the consequences of inaction cannot escape our elected leaders.

The serious consequences of the current exodus out of New Jersey cannot be ignored by any of us. The issues of fair housing, property taxes and school funding are fundamentally linked to our future economic prosperity, the social health of our state, and the stability of our communities.

The New Jersey Regional Coalition (NJRC), a statewide alliance of congregations, labor unions and civic organizations, held its second annual public meeting Sunday, Nov. 4, two days before Election Day. Once again we called on our state leaders to act on the issues important to New Jersey residents and communities: property taxes and school funding reform; in-state tuition for all residents; and housing reform that eliminates immoral RCA payoffs.

Last year, at its first statewide meeting of 1,500 people, the New Jersey Regional Coalition praised Gov. Corzine, Speaker Joe Roberts and Senate President Richard Codey for their commitment to address these pressing issues. Unfortunately, nearly a year later, their promises have not been kept.

But there is still time for our leaders to keep their promises and act on these vital issues before the year's end. In fact, the "lame duck" session following the Nov. 6 election, when all 120 legislative seats will be contested, is an ideal time to tackle these critical issues.

After hundreds of hours of legislative hearings, thousands of pages of reports and studies, and years of broken promises, "wait until next year" is no longer acceptable. New Jerseyans can wait no longer. Far too many are already voting with their feet.

David Rebovich, New Jersey columnist and political pundit, who tragically passed away last week, wrote in his final column that Gov. Corzine, "the guy with all that money, turned out to be the governor who likes to pass the buck, when it comes to dealing with important policy issues."

We fear Rebovich's parting words may be true - not only of the governor, but of our legislative leaders as well. Yet he concluded his last article on a more hopeful note, asking, "Who says this campaign season can't be worthwhile? It can be if we ask the right questions of our candidates and they answer them."

These are the questions NJRC is asking this election season. It is time for the governor and our legislative leaders to answer these questions, not with more empty promises, but with action.

The Rev. David B. Thornton,

pastor, United Presbyterian

Church in Paterson, and member

of the board of directors of the

NJRC.

The Rev. Javier A. Diaz, pastor,

St. Joseph's Parish, Trenton,

and member of NJRC.

Rohn A. Hein, chair of the

Social Justice Committee of the

Unitarian Universalist Church

in Cherry Hill, and member of

the board NJRC.

The Rev. Rodwell Thom, president,

East Orange Clergy

Association, and pastor of Holy

Trinity Lutheran Church, East

Orange.