Americans for Prosperity Foundation is proud to offer our selection of reports on issues critical to understanding government policies effecting the state and the effects these policies have on the economy.  These studies are the product of extensive research by some of the best minds in the field of government policy.

The Crisis in Public Sector Pension Plans: A Blueprint for Reform in New Jersey

Mercatus Center - George Mason University
New Jersey's pension system is in a state of crisis. As this Mercatus report indicates, the pension system's liability is closer to $173B than the oft-reported $45B when truer actuarial standards are applied. Time is running out to fix the pensions system, which could become insolvent between 2013 and 2019. With few options left to avoid a fiscal catastrophe, Mercatus calls for reducing or freezing cost of living adjustments (COLAs) and transitioning non-vested workers to defined contribution plans to help address the crisis.

Read the full report here.

Where Did They Come From and Where Did They Go?
Migration Patterns and New Jersey Housing Markets 2007

New Jersey Association of Realtors Governmental Research Foundation
This study of New Jersey migration patterns for 2007 reaffirms that our state is continuing to lose our friends and neighbors to other states – primarily New York, New Jersey and Florida. Overall population “declined by 38,640 between 2006 and 2007” equating to 13,899 households.
Interestingly, households moving into New Jersey tend to be wealthier than those households leaving the state suggesting that only those better-off can withstand the state’s burdensome tax climate; while middle- and lower-income families are searching for greener pastures.

Click here to read the full report.

Seven Reasons Why Congress Should Repeal, Not Fix, the Death Tax

The Heritage Foundation
The Death Tax (or Estate Tax) represents one of the more unjust taxes levied on Americans. After having worked hard and saved your entire life, the wealth you have created is taxed as it is passed on to your next of kin.

But not only is the Death Tax morally unjust to hard-working Americans. As this report from The Heritage Foundation explains, the Death Tax is a destroyer of wealth because it by discourages savings and investment, suppresses productivity and growth, and hurts African-American and women business owners. Click here to read the report.

Analysis of the Cost of Federal Health Care Legislation

Analysis by Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee
The new federal health care legislation undermines state authority with respect to SCHIP (FamilyCare in New Jersey). The mandates in the bill force states to keep the program and bear the enormous costs. If states attempt to curtail the program, it will result in the loss of all federally-provided Enhanced FMAP (matching) funds.

States like Arizona, which had planned to eliminate its KidsCare program in order to help address a $2.6B budget deficit, will now be forced to keep the program. Over the course of the next, the Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee estimates that the federal mandate will cost the state close to $7.5B through FY 2020 (relative to the state’s recently passed FY 2011 budget).

States like New Jersey, which are facing serious budgetary crises, will now be forced to commit billions of dollars to their SCHIP programs. The federal legislation effectively shatters the concept of state-controlled Medicaid and SCHIP programs.

Click here to read the memorandum from Arizona Governor Brewer.
Click here to read the analysis from the Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee

The People of New Jersey Will Be Hurt By The Waxman-Markey Climate Bill

American Petroleum Institute
How will climate change legislation affect New Jerseyans? This report by the American Petroleum Institute lays out the dire consequences of the misguided Waxman-Markey bill. Any New Jerseyan who uses “automobiles, trucks, planes, trains, heating oil and other non-transportation petroleum products” will feel the pain in the way of higher gas prices, higher energy costs, lost jobs and lower wages. Click here to read the full report.

Gross Receipts Taxes in State Government Finances: A Review of Their History and Performance

Tax Foundation
This working paper from the Tax Foundation explains why the gross receipts tax is a poor option for states. This stealth tax is unfair to low-margin firms, doesn’t raise enough revenue to pay the costs of government, is higher than the stated rate and makes it more difficult to compete with other states. Click here to read this report.

Rutgers Economic Advisory Service Center for Urban Policy Research

An Economic Analysis of New Jersey’s Real Estate Transfer Fee
This report by the Rutgers Economic Advisory Service Center for Urban Policy Research shows the negative effects of the estate tax on the New Jersey housing market.

The real estate transfer fee was originally intended to cover costs associated with recording the selling price of real property. Since then the transfer fee has been increased four times while become much more progressive and complicated. Revenues generated from the fee have also been applied for other purposes than originally intended.

Most importantly, the report demonstrates how the transfer fee has increased the overall price of a home while also driving down the overall number of transactions.

An Economic Analysis of New Jersey’s Real Estate Transfer Fee

Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index

The American Legislative Exchange Council
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) recently released the third edition of Rich States, Poor States, authored by economists Arthur B. Laffer, Stephen Moore, and Jonathan Williams.

This work provides the 2010 ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness rankings of the states based on their economic policies, which ranks states base don their Economic Performance and their Economic Outlook.

“The first, the Economic Performance Rank, is a backward-looking measure based on a state’s performance on three important variables: Personal Income Per Capita, Absolute Domestic Migration, and Non-farm Payroll Employment—each highly influenced by state policy. This ranking details states’ individual performances over the past 10 years based on this economic data."

"The second measure, the Economic Outlook Rank, is a forecast based on a state’s current standing in 15 policy variables. Each of these factors is influenced directly by state lawmakers through the legislative process. Generally speaking, states that spend less—especially on income transfer programs—and states that tax less—particularly on productive activities such as working or investing—experience higher growth rates than states that tax and spend more."

According to ALEC’s rankings, New Jersey was 39th in Economic Performance and 48th in Economic Outlook.

To see the New Jersey Snapshot click here.

To see the Executive Summary click here.

To see the full report click here.

2010 Index of Economic Freedom

The Heritage Foundation
America Drops In Economic Freedom Ranking
The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal recently released the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom and the news for the U.S. is not good. For the first time, America has fallen from the elite "free" level to the second tier of "mostly free" nations.

The Index defines "economic freedom" as the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property." Societies that are economically free have "governments [that] allow labor, capital and goods to move freely, and refrain from coercion or constraint of liberty beyond the extent necessary to protect and maintain liberty itself."

The Index of Economic Freedom "measure[s] ten components of economic freedom, assigning a grade in each using a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 represents the maximum freedom. The ten component scores are then averaged to give an overall economic freedom score for each country."

Click here to read the full report.

Migration of Wealth in New Jersey and the Impact on Wealth and Philanthropy

Boston College Center on Wealth and Philanthropy
Boston College’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy recently released a study showing that from 2004 through 2008, $70 billion in wealth left New Jersey, while the state’s charitable capacity declined by $1.13 billion.

The study was commissioned by the Community Foundation of New Jersey and the Enterprise Trust at the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce and looked at New Jersey’s household wealth migration over the past decade, from 1999 through 2008. The study focused on wealth as opposed to income because wealthy households are the most charitable segment of our communities.

Wealth began to leave New Jersey around the time when a series of changes to the state’s tax structure made it less competitive for charitable families compared to neighboring states. New Jersey’s state income taxes have risen to levels above New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, and there is not a deduction on state income taxes for charitable giving.

Click here to read the full report.

Applying the Lessons of State Health Reform

National Center for Policy Analysis
Why are health insurance premiums so high in New Jersey? One rea­son is that state regulations require insurers to sell policies to all appli­cants, including people who wait until they become sick to buy coverage (so-called guaranteed issue). Another reason is that the state keeps insur­ers from adjusting their premiums to reflect the health risks of individual consumers (called community rating). As a result, the young and healthy are charged more for insurance than they would be otherwise in order to subsidize the premiums of others. Click here to read full report

Insitutions Matter: Can New Jersey Reverse Course?
Mercatus Center
The government of New Jersey has resorted to fiscal evasion—avoiding the rules meant to constrain spending and has sustained spending growth through fiscal illusion, obscuring the full costs of policies by relying on intergovernmental aid and debt to achieve the current level of spending. The state has long emphasized current spending at the expense of higher taxes for future taxpayers. The costs of this approach are now coming due. Click here for full report.

Dollars and Sense: Understanding the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Role in Education and Housing
Federalist Society

The State of New Jersey has experienced increasing economic difficulties in recent years. Its state and local tax burden is the highest in the nation, totaling 11.8% of the average taxpayer’s income,  and the Tax Foundation ranked New Jersey’s business tax climate as the most inhospitable in the nation in 2009.  The state’s economic growth in terms of real GDP has stagnated. 

Deteriorating economic conditions in the state may have caused New Jersey to begin losing two of its most important assets: its businesses and its residents.  According to a Rutgers University study, between 2002 and 2006, the state lost 231,565 people.  This decrease in population resulted in a cumulative income loss of $7.9 billion between 2000 and 2005.  According to other surveys, only ten percent of New Jerseyans were satisfied with the way their state and local governments operated in 2008,  and forty-nine percent of residents expressed a desire to leave the state in 2007.  Twenty-eight percent of residents wishing to move cited high property taxes as their most pressing concern. Click here to read full report.

The Economic Impact of Federal Spending on State Economic Performance: A New Jersey Perspective
Arduin, Laffer & Moore Econometrics

One of the cornerstones of good economic analysis is the realization that “there is no such thing as a free lunch.”  Yet when it comes to federal money for the states, this fundamental truth is generally lost.  Most people equate federal dollars as manna from heaven – a free meal that should be enjoyed for as long, and often, as possible.  The reaction to the governors that questioned the efficacy of the recent stimulus package is simply the latest example of this mistaken belief.

New Jersey Tax Rankings
Tax Foundation

New Jersey ranks 50th in the Tax Foundation's State Business Tax Climate Index.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/44.html

New Jersey's Corporate Income Tax System, 5th Highest In The Nation 
http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/44.html

New Jersey Sales Tax above National Median; Cigarette Tax Fifth-Highest in Nation 
http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/44.html

New Jersey Property Taxes: Highest Per Capita in the Nation
http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/44.html

Tax Foundation's 2010 Facts & Figures: How Does Your State Compare?

Additional Resources

CATO Institute
http://www.cato.org/
The mission of the Cato Institute is to increase the understanding of public policies based on the principles of limited government, free markets, individual liberty, and peace. The Institute will use the most effective means to originate, advocate, promote, and disseminate applicable policy proposals that create free, open, and civil societies in the United States and throughout the world.

Manhattan Institute
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/
For over 30 years, the Manhattan Institute has been an important force in shaping American political culture and developing ideas that foster economic choice and individual responsibility. We have supported and publicized research on our era's most challenging public policy issues: taxes, health care, energy, the legal system, policing, crime, homeland security, urban life, education, race, culture, and many others. Our work has won new respect for market-oriented policies and helped make reform a reality.