7/1/02 McGreevey’s
(Unbalanced) Budget Signed Into Law After Newark
Arena Stymies Vote on
CBT-- Lawmakers Go Home Without
Having Passed Needed $1 Billion Corporate Business Tax Bill After McGreevey
Fails to Get 5 Democrat Votes (Including Senator Sharpe
James)
McGreevey
$23.6 Billion State Budget Calls for Litany of Tax/Fee Increases
:
• Corporate
Business Tax Initiative expected to generate approximately $1 billion (included
in Budget, but at the time, the most important piece of the package had not yet
been passed or signed into law)
• .003 percent
litter tax reinstituted (Included in the Budget, but not yet signed into
law)
• surcharge of
$8 on vehicle registrations (Included in Budget, but not yet even introduced,
much less enacted)
• 70 cent
increase in state’s Cigarette Tax
• $12 annual tax
for use of EZ Pass
• Boat
registration fees doubled-- to $12 for boats under 16 feet, to $28 for boats up
to 26 feet and to $52 for boats up to 40 feet
• New Car rental
tax-- $2 a day surcharge added to car rentals
• Court filing
fees raised from $175 to $200
• Divorce filing
fee raised from $160 to $200
• Small claims
court filing raised from $12 to $15
• Notary fee for
administering oaths or taking affidavits increased 500%-- from 50 cents to
$2.50
• HMOs charged
new fee equal to $1.50 per insured person
• Mortgage fees
increased- $15 for granter; $25 for the mortgagee
• Permit for
“regulated emission” from industries increased from $35 a ton to
$85 a ton
• Annual license
for distributors of feed increased by 1000% (from $25 to $250); fertilizer
distributor license doubled (from $125 to $250)
• Cost for
insurance companies to obtain a driver abstract more than doubled (from $4 to
$10 per abstract)
• Truck
registration fees raised average of $160; (increased $2 for every 1,000 pounds
over 5,000)
• State to begin
charging $50 for any bounced check given for state tax or penalty
• Fee doubled
from $50 to $100 to get driver’s license or registration
restored
7/2/02 Media Reports
McGreevey Has to Order Lawmakers Back to Trenton Using Threat of Troopers to
Get His Billion Dollar CBT Passed -- First Time Power Used Since 1985 to
Get Legislature to Meet; Media Reports Budget Signed Into Law In Early
Morning Hours of 7/1/02
7/8/02
Under Heavy Media Pressure, McGreevey Signs Open Public Records Into
Law
7/9/02 McGreevey
Signs Executive Order 21 -- Severely Limiting The Records That Can Be Opened
Under The New Law-- Order Imposes
More than 400 Restrictions, Including Shielding His Own Documents And Those
Of 15 State Agencies
7/10/02 McGreevey
Names Political Ally And Donor, Barry Albin, As Associate Justice of the New
Jersey Supreme
Court
7/13/02 McGreevey
Heads To Ireland For So-Called “Trade Mission”
7/14/02 Media Reports
Governor’s Office Estimates The Ireland Trip Will Cost Taxpayers $20,000
During Budget Crisis
(Covering Airfare, Meals And Lodging For
Eight)
7/16/02 Media
Reports McGreevey Is Living Large In Ireland At Taxpayers’
Expense --Including Nearly $2,000
For Seven Cell
Phones
7/21/02 Media Reports
Sports Fever (Newark Arena) Cools -- Lawmakers Battle With McGreevey Over
Whether the State Should Kick in $165 Million During Budget Crisis to Fund
$400 Million Sports Stadium
