As U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez speaks to an audience gathered at a home on Ferncliff Road in Bloomfield, he is joined by, from left, Mayor Michael Venezia, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr.
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The state’s senior representatives in Washington — U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Robert Menendez — spoke from a Bloomfield homeowner’s front lawn on Friday, Nov. 3, to criticize the Republican tax-reform proposal as harmful to New Jersey property owners.
Introduced by Mayor Michael Venezia to an assembly of media outlets at the Ferncliff Road residence of Peter Tom, Booker and Menendez took turns swiping at the proposals that would cap property tax deductions at $10,000, and end state and local sales tax deductions. Also attending the press conference were Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo Jr. and South Orange resident James Ledoux. Both voiced their concerns while the senators agreed that defeating the bill would mean a tough battle aided by GOP colleagues.
Menendez said that as a member of the Senate Finance Committee, the proposal did not solve the state’s problems of high property taxes and health insurance costs. He called the proposal a benefit for Wall Street.
“You won’t hear NJ property owners say they want a tax plan that adds $1.5 trillion to the national debt for corporate giveaways and heirs to billionaires,” Menendez said.
Deductions for interest on student loans would be eliminated, he said. Without this deduction, Menendez said his own college loan repayments would have been challenging.
“NJ is a donor state,” he continued. “We already pay too much. NJ subsidizes a good part of the federal government. It’s a bad bill for NJ and the country.”
Booker recalled Ronald Reagan’s 1985 visit to Bloomfield.
“He was here to reduce middle class taxes,” Booker said. “I never thought I’d be supporting him, but he partnered with a Democrat, NJ Sen. Bill Bradley. That’s how it should be done. But this plan was done behind closed doors and they’re trying to ram it through as quickly as possible. It casts a shadow on what Reagan wanted.”
Booker said people with Jersey Pride should be “ticked off.”
“Donald Trump is coming after NJ,” he said. “He is coming after your pocketbook. LoBiondo, a Republican, voted against it. He knows it’s an attack on our region.”
U.S. Rep Frank LoBiondo, a Republican, represents the 2nd District, which includes, wholly or in part, eight southerly counties. Booker said he was proud of LoBiondo for supporting what was right.
“We’re at the top of the donor states,” Booker said. “Our money goes to Washington and it doesn’t come back. I am angry.”
Booker said everyone in NJ should be angry, too.
DiVincenzo said he has been county executive for 15 years and has kept tax increases to a minimum. Essex County residents, he said, pay the highest amount of property taxes in the state and have the highest number of property foreclosures.
“I worry about people leaving this county,” he said. “This will bankrupt our county. We have to band together.”
The Ferncliff Road property owner, Tom, said he was born and raised in Bloomfield and that he pays $12,000 annually in property taxes. If the Trump plan is adopted, he said he would lose a $2,000 deduction.
“Everyone on this block would be paying more,” he said.
South Orange resident Ledoux said his federal taxes would go up 50 percent if the GOP proposal went through and that he may be forced to sell his house sometime in the future.
“Why does 85 percent of the Trump tax plan go to people making more than $700,000? he said.
Booker returned to the podium. He said Democrats were willing to negotiate but no Republican supporting the proposal was willing. But Republicans, he said, tried the same tactic with health-care reform.
“We beat them back on health care,” he said. “We can beat them. Call your Republican representative. Ask them where they stand. Tell them to stand with the people who put them into office.”
Responding to emailed questions sent earlier this week by The Independent Press regarding comments by Booker and Menendez, an email from the Washington office of U.S, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-11th District, who represents a portion of Bloomfield, said, “Now that the House Ways and Means Committee has released its proposed tax reform bill, I look forward to evaluating its details to determine the legislation’s effect on my New Jersey constituents. As always, I invite residents of my district to let me know what they think.”
Bloomfield is also represented by U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr., D-10th District.
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