AA Clergy Letter In Support of Governors Murphy Fair Budget and Millionaires Tax

June 7, 2019

Offices of the New Jersey Senate

State House

PO Box 099

Trenton, New Jersey 08625

 

Offices of the New Jersey General Assembly

State House

PO Box 098

Trenton, New Jersey 08625

 

Dear Members of the New Jersey Senate and Assembly,

We, the undersigned Faith Leaders, ask that you support Governor Murphy’s fair budget proposal that:  expands funding for pre-K, community colleges, opioid addiction, criminal justice reform, New Jersey Transit, and more.  These are the priorities that build healthy and strong communities throughout the state.

We further ask that you support the Governor’s proposal to secure New Jersey’s economic future by restoring the Millionaires tax - a small surtax on the super-wealthy - of 1.75% on every dollar they make over $1 million.  It is a just and responsible proposal. The legislature in the past has voted several times to pass a Millionaire’s Tax, now that we have a Governor who will sign off on it, there seems to be a problem with passing that now. We find this quite puzzling and quite frankly, not in good faith.

We are dismayed with the attacks on pensions and health benefits of civilian public workers.  The teachers, nurses, social workers, and other largely women and minority workers who devote their careers to the public good are members of our congregations across the great state of New Jersey. They are honest hard working people that we know and interact with daily.  Their hard work and dedication   should not be repaid with the angst of having their benefits and standards of living attacked.  Where is the fairness and equity to New Jersey’s hardworking families?  When will they be entitled to dignity and respect as opposed to scorn and disregard every time it is Budget Season in New Jersey?  Where is the morality in playing political games with some of the state’s most vulnerable residents who awaken each morning to put in an honest day’s work and care for their families?  We have searched for that answer and are at a loss to explain to the people in our congregations why they are always the last considered in this game of politics.

Finally, we want it to be known and respected that tax incentives and other bonuses to corporations in proclaiming to be given in the name of “economic development” should include the requirement that jobs are provided to the people from the communities where the development is taking place – including the construction jobs.   It is not acceptable that billions of dollars in tax revenues have been lost to developers and corporate moguls while the people remain unemployed, the public schools are closing, and there is still not affordable and safe housing for the community.  We need a lively discussion of how the communities that are directly affected by this “economic development” going on around them actually prosper on behalf of the people that live in these areas, not just the people that come in for eight hours to work. We thoroughly support an investigation and full transparency of the billions of dollars that have been spent over the last eight years by the Economic Development Authority.

We believe that the New Jersey Legislature and all of our elected leaders have a MORAL obligation and a decision to make – not a political one.  We want the New Jersey Budget to reflect our moral values – funding for education, mass transit, a clean environment, community rehabilitation, and keeping the ethical promises to public workers and retirees.  A budget that is reflective of greed and political power brokering is unacceptable and should under no circumstances be visited upon the people who are in need. We have grown weary, as have the people in our congregations of worrying whether or not there will be a government shut-down looming upon us again.  How many times must the hard working citizens of New Jersey be forced to travel that precarious road of not knowing if the government will shut down again and again?

The first duty of your service as an elected official in New Jersey must be to serve the most underserved people of this state – not the powerful and politically connected. We ask that you remove any and all biases and do the right thing by taking selfless moral action.   We ask that you do the right thing on behalf of the people you were elected to serve. We ask that you take the appropriate steps to pass the Governor’s fair budget with a Millionaires tax, and promote public funding for communities, not corporations and corruption.

Sincerely In Truth & Service,

Rev. Dr. Darrell L. Armstrong

Senior Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church, Trenton, New Jersey

Chief Administrative Officer to the United Nations for the Baptist World Alliance

 

Rev. Bryant Ali	Rev. John Givens	Imam Abdul Razzaqq
Rev. Macy Allen	Rev. Barry Graham	Rev. Louise Roundtree
Apostle James Amoh	Minister Lynn Granady	Rev. Malachi Rountree
Apostle Perry Amoh	Minister Jonnel Green	Rev. Vincent Rouse
Rev. Steffie Bartley	Imam Dahoud Haqq	Rev. William Rutherford, II
Minister Keith Benson	Rev. Ella Hayes	Rev. William Rutherford, III
Bishop Cleveland Blash	Elder Clark Headley	Bro. Khalil Salih
Rev. Clabon Bogan	Rev. Gregory Jackson	Rev. James Salmond
Rev. Allan Boyer	Rev. Maurice Jean	Evangelist  Grace Sampson
Minister Tonya Bryan	Rev. Alfred Johnson	Rev. Jerry Smith
Rev. Gwennie Burt	Rev. Cory Jones	Rev.  Darby  Smith
Prophet Samuel Calland	Rev. Amir Khan	Rev. Dr.  Robert L.  Smith
Pastor Michael Carr	Rev. Dr. James Kuykendall	Rev. Errol Stoddart
Elder Leslie Clark-Headley	Rev. Mensah Ledlum	Pastor-Elect  Fred Sullivan
Rev. Kenneth Clayton	Pastor Mitchell Lee	Evangelist  Gina  Swain
Minister Janiqua Coddrington	Minister Lee  Lester	Rev. Dr. Lester Taylor
Rev. Dr. Rosalyn Collins	Rev. Michael Lewis	Rev. John Taylor
Minister Jennifer  Cunnigham	Rev. Fondrea Lewis	Rev.  Joe  Thelusca
Rev. Eric Dobson	Rev. Douglas Maven	Rev.  Geary  Thompson
Rev. James Dunkin	Rev. Eric McCoy	Elder Leonard Trautman
Rev. Theodore Durr	Minister Ella  McDaniels	Elder Paul Trautmn
Bishop Gerald Edwards	Minister Beverly McKenzie	Rev. Carolyn Watson
Imam  El-Amin	Rev. Glennis McLoud	Evangelist  Cecile  Watson
Rev. Tony Evans	Rev. Tamika McReynolds	Rev. Donna West
Deacon Willie Fareed	Rev. Dr. John McReynolds	Rev. Floyd White
Rev. Willie Francois	Pastor Jerri Mitchell-Lee	Minister Brenda Williams
Rev. Dwight Franklin	Rev. Ameer Natson	Rev. Dr. Elijah Williams
Bishop Terry Gillespie	Rev. Michael Ogmleye	Rev. Dr. Melvin Wilson
	Rev. Dana Owens
	Rev. Dr. Carol Patterson