Most Garden State voters support bold solutions to fix the state’s broken tax code and boost public investments, according to a new poll commissioned by New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP). There is strong, bipartisan support for raising income taxes on the wealthiest 5 percent and for restoring the estate tax for millionaires, and there is majority support for rolling back the recent reduction in the state sales tax, which 60 percent of voters say has not helped them at all.
The three tax reforms included in the NJPP-commissioned poll represent over $2 billion in new revenue that New Jersey desperately needs to meet its obligations, maintain essential services and make targeted investments that can boost opportunity and grow the state’s economy, and they are crucial components of NJPP’s broader proactive tax reform agenda.
This polling confirms what we’ve heard as we’ve traveled the state this year to discuss the crucial issues facing New Jersey. Voters are willing to support tax increases – even on themselves – to create a stronger, fairer economy and fix the Garden State’s financial crisis.
Key findings:
- Strong majorities believe that the state’s wealthiest 5 percent of households and large corporations are paying “too little” in taxes (69 and 66 percent, respectively).
- Three-quarters of New Jersey voters (75 percent) support raising income taxes on the top 5 percent of households – including 76 percent of independents and 57 percent of Republicans.
- Over 60 percent of New Jersey voters (62 percent) support restoring the state estate tax on heirs inheriting $1 million or more – including 57 percent of independents and 52 percent of Republicans.
- A majority of New Jersey voters (53 percent) support rolling back the 2016 cut in the state sales tax – including 54 percent of Republicans.
- Three-quarters of New Jersey voters (75 percent) support raising $2.5 billion in new revenue by increasing taxes mostly on the wealthy and large corporations.
As the Governor-elect and the new legislature chart a course for greater economic justice in New Jersey, they must be bold. The old playbook – pursuing a patchwork of modest tax fixes here and there in order to limp through a crisis – will not be enough to put our state back on the right track.
The poll of 750 likely 2017 New Jersey voters, conducted by Anzalone Liszt Grove Research, was conducted September 27-October 3 using professional interviewers. The full poll results can be viewed here: http://www.njpp.org/wp-content
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