Remarks on the Garrett Tax

Statement

Over the past year, I've been talking with people all across the District. People love living here in North Jersey for many of the same reasons I chose to move back home and raise my family here. But there are challenges.

We all know that living in northern North Jersey is expensive. I don't need to remind any homeowners that we pay some of the highest taxes in the nation, from our property and local taxes, to our state and federal taxes. Our local and state taxes make it difficult for many people to stay here after their kids to school or after they retire. It's a huge expense for residents and for businesses. It's part of the reason companies like Mercedes-Benz, Benjamin Moore, and Hertz, are packing up and leaving town, taking good-paying jobs and their tax dollars with them -- and why so many small and medium size businesses have had to close up shop.

There are a number of mayors and local elected officials here today who are working incredibly hard to keep taxes down in their communities and to make sure their families have the services they need -- good schools, safe roads, clean water, and top-notch first responders. These are Mayors and Councilman like Allen Rapaport, a Republican from Norwood, and Mayor Laforet, an Independent, from Mahwah, who always puts people before politics. But, the unfortunate truth is, these elected officials are not getting much-needed help from our local Congressman, Scott Garrett, to bring their residents hard-earned federal tax dollars back to the District. These are dollars that could directly pay for services that state and local taxes currently pay for -- and, in turn, could help reduce the property tax burden crushing too many of our families.

So, how do we fix this?

First things first -- we need lower the federal taxes rates. We must set aside partisanship and pass comprehensive federal tax reform, so we can close the special interest loopholes and lower our federal tax rates. I'm not sure I'm going to find anyone who will argue with me on this point -- our taxes, at all levels, are way too high. When I'm in Congress, reforming the federal tax code and lowering our federal tax rates will be my top priority.

We need a tax code that incentivizes businesses to stay here and create jobs here, not that rewards inversions and encourages business to relocate their offices overseas.

Tax reform shouldn't be a partisan issue. And I want to work across the aisle to get it done. President Reagan and Tip O'Neal sat down in 1986 and hashed out a way to reform our tax code. It's time we did it again.

But, here's the other issue. Whatever happens with the tax code -- and I want to see New Jersey families paying less -- whatever we pay, we should at the very least be getting back our share. We should be getting a decent return on investment here in the 5th District, just like the shareholders demanded when I worked in the private sector at Microsoft and Ford.

Now, I know Scott Garrett has been in government -- and on the government dole in Trenton and Washington -- for about 25 years now. But in the private sector, where the jobs are created, where I've spent the majority of my professional career, we think throwing dollars down a rat hole is a bad use of money. New Jersey deserves a solid return on our investment.

So, I'd say this to Congressman Garrett: for nearly fourteen years in Washington, you've been failing miserably on this front. It's shameful how you've hung the 5th District out to dry, and haven't fought to bring our taxpayer dollars home for our most pressing priorities -- our schools, our roads, our police and firefighters, and our clean water.

Here are a few facts that put a fine point on this:

As Herb Jackson reported in the Bergen Record, New Jersey is near the bottom of the barrel -- 48th out of 50 -- when it comes to federal spending that comes back to the state for every dollar paid in taxes. We send way too much of our money to Washington and just get too little back.
We are the 5th highest state in taxes paid per person.
We are the top three percent tax-paying District in the entire country.

For every dollar we send to Washington, we are getting back about $0.33 cents in federal spending -- one of the worst returns on investment in the nation. To put this in perspective, here in the 5th District, we are getting less than half our state average, which is $.68 cents on the dollar. The taxpayers in West Virginia receive about $4.23 for every tax dollar they pay to the federal government. When you add that up, the difference between what we pay out in federal tax dollars, and what we get back, equals $14,000 a person, per year. Let me say that again: $14,000 a person. There's more on this at repealgarretttax.com. There's just no reason we should be pouring billions of dollars into coal subsidies in West Virginia and building bridges to nowhere in Alaska -- but not getting money back here for fire trucks and police officers, schools, and clean water.

In all, we pay out nearly $10 billion dollars a year more than we get back and Scott Garrett, having helped create this mess, won't fix it. When you add it up, that $14,000 per person that we pay out and don't get back is a tax -- the Garrett Tax -- and it's putting enormous pressure on all of us, individuals, families, small businesses, big businesses that are vital to our economy.

Again, the Garrett Tax is the gap between what we send to Washington and the funding we get back. It exists, in part, because our Congressman, Scott Garrett, is a rigid Tea Party ideologue who refuses to fight for our families' priorities and our District's share of federal tax dollars. He's more interested in pushing his national Tea Party agenda than in working to get a return on investment for all of us. For more than 13 years now, on top of income taxes, corporate taxes, estate taxes and gift taxes, 5th District families have been paying the Garrett Tax.

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, when it comes to your taxes, are you better off now than you were thirteen years ago? Under Scott Garrett, the answer is a resounding no. You've heard of a tax and spend -- Scott Garrett is a tax and tax Tea Partier.

So why is the Garrett Tax such a problem?

First, the Garrett Tax discourages businesses to hang up a shingle and it's forcing many others, like Benjamin Moore, Mercedes, and Hertz to pack up and go elsewhere. Why? It's just too expensive for their employees and for them to operate. One of the top guys at AT&T told me a couple of weeks ago that they are taking jobs out of New Jersey and moving them to Texas because it's simply too expensive for them to operate and for their employees to live here. Plus, our infrastructure, both above ground and below -- from roads and bridges to our water system -- are simply falling apart. We just don't have the money to make the long-term investments we need -- investments that the US Chamber of Commerce puts at the top of their agenda for the small, medium, and bigger businesses they represent. As the Chamber recently said: "A positive future will not come automatically. It will not happen through divine intervention. We must work for it. We must earn it."

So, we need to do everything in our power to keep and attract new businesses of all sizes to our District and state -- tech jobs, sharing economy jobs, life sciences jobs -- you name it. These businesses -- and their employees -- support our schools and our baseball teams. They not only give jobs to our people but they create other jobs -- like dry cleaners and restaurants.

Second, when you have a congressman who refuses to fight for a nickel back to the District, it ends up costing taxpayers much more. Because, locally, leaders have to make up the difference with property, state taxes and local property taxes. Let's face it, as the mayors and councilman know well, you still need firetrucks, you still need to fix the roads, you still need resources to fight lone wolf terrorists attacking law enforcement, you still need good schools. And our congressman just refuses to request money back for us for these things -- he refuses to fight for us. I guess it just doesn't align with his Tea Party agenda in Washington.

I'll give you an example: Two years ago, Paramus was one of just ten communities in the entire state to be awarded a federal Community Oriented Policing Services -- or COPS -- grant. It provided $623,592 to put five new police officers on the streets to keep Paramus families safe and $12.2 million across the state.

Who did Mayor LaBarbiera turn to help secure these funds and put our federal tax dollars to work for us? Garrett, as always, said no. So, although Paramus isn't even in his District, Congressman Bill Pascrell fought to ensure Paramus got the funding it needed to keep the community safe.

Where was Scott Garrett all this time? He was busy collecting his paycheck, partying with his fellow Tea Partiers, and voting no. Garrett voted 12 times against funding for COPS grants. In fact, in 2009, Garrett was the only New Jersey representative to vote against reauthorization of the COPS program.

Since Congressman Pascrell was there to stand up for our families and work to bring back this grant, Mayor LaBarbiera didn't have to call on property taxpayers to pick up the $600,000 bill. He was able to avoid another Garrett Tax.

Many of the mayors and council members here today can tell you about the times, they too, needed someone to fight for their communities, and Scott Garrett was M.I.A.

In fact, and worst of all, Scott Garrett's office recently told towns, like Oradell, seeking a letter of support for Federal firefighter grants, that it was the congressman's policy not to write such letters. Those applications may or may not be successful, but certainly the likelihood of success increases when the local member of congress is fighting for it. As my dad always said, you don't get something unless you ask for it. The funding is already there, if the funds aren't allocated to this District, they will go to other cities like Tulsa, Oklahoma or Mobile, Alabama. Scott Garrett willingness to let taxpayers suffer and put first responders at risk, shows just how out of touch he is. And it shows how the Garrett Tax is rearing its ugly head every day in our communities.

What Scott Garrett either doesn't realize or doesn't care about, is that when he votes against funding for public safety, and doesn't fight to bring our taxpayer dollars back home, he's not only failing to keep us safe, that money needs to be made up elsewhere. And most often, making up the Garrett Tax shortfall lands on the shoulders of property taxpayers.

It's the same story when Garrett fails to fight for us and votes against funding to fix our crumbling roads and bridges or for health care for first-responders, for veterans, or for public education.

One third of our roads and bridges in New Jersey are considered unsafe for travel. Yet in December, Scott Garrett was the only member of the New Jersey delegation to vote against a bill that funds transportation needs through 2020. Can you imagine that? Voting no when our roads and bridges are literally crumbling -- the roads that take us to school and work and are critical to a successful economy. And he certainly isn't out there fighting for infrastructure projects within the District. He came out against the ARC Tunnel and the $3.3 billion dollars in funding that was headed to NJ. The Garrett Tax.

He refused to support relief funds for Hurricane Sandy, until he was publically guilted into it.

He voted against Homeland Security funding that helps bring dollars back to local law enforcement to protect us from lone wolf terrorists.

Garrett has said he believes federal funding of public education is unconstitutional and has voted for budgets that slash aid to NJ schools, instead of pushing for federal dollars, our taxpayer dollars that we already paid to Washington, to help save thousands of teaching jobs in the District. These are critical dollars that could be going to our schools for Title I and special education programs -- dollars that would likely help offset our property tax dollars paying for these expenses.

He also voted no to the Clean Water Act and the EPA, which puts critical health and safety officials on the ground to make sure our water is safe for our families and children to drink. We are experiencing now what happens when you cut those programs short.

The ironic thing is that while Garrett objects to investing a single dollar for police officers that keep us safe, for safeguards for clean water, or for fixing our crumbling roads and bridges, he has had no problem spending $1.8 million since being in office -- number one in our state -- of your hard-earned tax dollars on glossy campaign-style mailers to keep his job.

He won't support a police officer or a veteran, but he will blow $1.8 million on taxpayer-funded mail for his re-election campaign. It's hypocritical and fiscally irresponsible.

His extreme national Tea Party agenda isn't just an affront to the New Jersey values we hold dear, but it hits us right in our wallets, too. On Scott Garrett's watch, we've been getting the short end of the stick -- and I plan to fix that.

That's why we need to repeal the Garrett Tax this November -- and cut the bill our families are picking up in higher property and state taxes. I'm running to be a problem solver. To reach across the aisle to get things done for us here in New Jersey -- lower tax rates, regulatory reform, and smart investment in law enforcement, in infrastructure and in STEM education. I commit to the mayors and other elected officials here, you have my word that's how I'll serve you.

Let's repeal the Garrett Tax, so that our families have someone who is willing to invest in our communities to create jobs, grow our businesses and strengthen our economy.

Let's repeal the Garrett Tax, so that our seniors have someone who will protect and preserve Social Security, not dismantle it.

Let's repeal the Garrett Tax, so that when our veterans, the men and women who courageously fought to protect our values, have the training they need to find civilian jobs and support their families.

Let's repeal the Garrett Tax, so that our children have safe water to drink.

Let's repeal the Garret Tax, so we can lower our tax rates and make life more affordable for people and businesses here in NJ.

I'm for New Jersey. I'm for the 5th District. I'm for fiscal discipline and getting more of our tax dollars back here. I'm for working across party lines to get things done. That's what this race is about.

Thank you.

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