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Even if he decides not to seek a full term and serves as Governor for only a year, the word "caretaker" should not be used to describe Acting Gov. Richard Codey. New Jersey's policy hedges and fiscal lawn need a lot more than routine trimming.
The budget is a mess-with perhaps a $4 billion shortfall looming. A public seeing ethics violators leave office one after another holds government in low esteem. And the working poor continue to receive far less help than they need.
That would be a lot to tackle in four years, but Codey might have only one. So here's a to-do list for the new head man.
Taxes and Finances
That New Jersey's tax system puts a crushing burden on middle-income homeowners because of its unconscionable over-reliance on local property taxes is not exactly news. Codey has two choices. He can support a tax convention, and work with the Legislature to pass the measure needed to put public approval of the convention on the ballot next November.
Codey view has been that it is the Legislature's job to fix the tax system. Now, as head of the executive branch and half the legislative branch-by virtue of his being Senate President-Codey is in a better position than anyone ever was to force action. If he doesn't want a convention or thinks it would take too long to produce a solution Codey should call a special session of the Legislature to face up once and for all to this problem.
It is hard to offer good advice about the budget Codey must present to the state early next year. Times are tough; money is tight. Yet many important needs are still unmet. There are no magic places to find money and Codey's interest in video gaming at racetracks might put him in the middle of a big fight that doesn't yield all that much revenue compared to what's needed.
What Codey can do, though, is make New Jersey's budget process more open and accountable so that future budgets in good economic times and bad benefit from more honest debate and clearer assessment of priorities. Two ways to do that would be to require a yearly tax expenditure report that tells how much revenue the state gave up in tax breaks-and who got them-and a tax incidence report that details how the tax burden in New Jersey falls on households at every income level.
Ethics and Government Reform
It doesn't sound like Codey needs to be pushed on ethics. His earliest actions as Acting Governor include an executive order requiring an audit of the state's rules on ethics and he seems serious about pushing ahead where Governor McGreevey belatedly started to go.
Codey should overcome the State Senate's institutional bias against fixing New Jersey's succession system by creating a lieutenant governor. The Assembly has already passed a measure that would put the issue before the voters next year. Wearing his Senate President's hat, Codey should get the upper house to follow.
Working Poor
It's hard to be poor anyplace, but it's even harder in New Jersey-where the cost of living is a third above the federal average. For years Codey has introduced legislation to raise New Jersey's wage, which as recently as 1992 was tops in the nation. The increase should include an indexing mechanism so the minimum wage rises automatically to reflect the cost of living. Business leaders are already saying that the economy isn't good enough to raise wages for the poorest workers-but the truth is those people have waited too long already.
And, New Jersey should end its "distinction" of being the only state with an Earned Income Tax Credit that cuts off eligibility at a level below that of the federal EITC.
At some point in the next few months Codey will say whether he is running for Governor or not. Then he is either a lame duck or someone whose every move is seen as politically motivated. But in the short run he just might be able to do a lot that would help this state in the long run. Let's wish him-and us-well.
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