NJ Tax Dollars Are Literally Getting You Nothing [AUDIO]

Get ready to be shocked yet again by how your tax dollars are being wasted in New Jersey.

Under current law, legislative office holders who are paid $49,000 annually and are also on the public payroll in other jobs are not required to take an unpaid day when they attend legislative duties such as committee meetings or voting sessions.

Every year since 2004 including this year, Assemblyman Ron Dancer has introduced a bill that would eliminate dual government pay to members of the Legislature when they are in Trenton performing their legislative duties.

Until this year, the bill has never had a committee hearing or even a co-sponsor. While there’s still no hearing date set, Assembly members Jack Ciattarelli and Donna Simon have announced they will be joining Dancer as sponsors of the legislation.

“Being compensated for two jobs while attending to matters in Trenton is wrong,” says Dancer. “Elected officials should forfeit their pay for those days they are away from their normal job. After eight years of trying to address this issue, and voluntarily docking my own pay when tending to legislative duties, I am hopeful this bill will receive a hearing where all input is welcome.”

Ciattarelli thinks, “Until reform is enacted, all legislators taking advantage of this law should voluntarily draw down their unused sick and vacation time when they are not working at their regular public sector job in order to fulfill their legislative duties.”

Dancer says taxpayers are justifiably skeptical of how government functions when they read stories about elected officials accumulating vast sums of unused entitlement compensation and they should be angry to learn how elected officials still get paid for their regular job even when they are performing their legislative duties.

Simon says, “The double-pay law for legislators is due for an overhaul. “The public doesn’t buy the excuses that try to justify a policy that affords legislators an opportunity to collect wages for one job while they are at another. It is outdated public policies such as this that keep taxpayers wondering why they pay so much. Every aspect of government expense adds up and what always remains constant is that taxpayers end up footing the bill.”