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Page 56

New Jersey

Christine Todd Whitman,

Legislature: Republican

Republican

Took Office: 1/94

Grade: B

Back in 1993 Christine Todd Whitman became an overnight

national cause célèbre when she carried her anti-tax message

to an improbable, last-second victory over liberal, pro-tax

incumbent Jim Florio.  Whitman not only delivered on her 30

percent income tax cut; she did so ahead of schedule and

without running up big deficits.  For Republican gubernato-

rial candidates across the country, "Whitman-omics" became a

rallying cry.  After Whitman had been in office two years,

her popularity had soared and Vogue magazine branded her the

"patrician with the populist touch."  The Whitman tax plan

has been an unmitigated success: the budget is now running a

$700 million surplus, income tax revenues are coming in

faster with Whitman's tax cuts than they did with Florio's

tax rate increases, the state now ranks first in the region

in new business relocations, and New Jersey has recaptured

the more than 200,000 jobs it lost under Florio and added

100,000 more.  In her first term, Whitman was also frugal

when it came to the expenditure side of the budget.  Outlays

rose at only 2 percent per year in her first three years.

Since then, Whitman's star has faded.  She has reversed fis-

cal course.  Since barely winning re-election, Whitman has

supported a seemingly endless barrage of new taxes: a 40-

cent a pack increase in cigarette taxes, a 67 percent in-

crease in the gas tax (that even the Democrats in the legis-

lature wouldn't support), a $3-a-day increase in the car

rental fee, and an increase in motor vehicle and other fees.

All of this despite a budget surplus.  The budget Whitman

just signed into law raises outlays by $1 billion--an 8.3

percent hike, including $15 million for bicycle paths, $116

million for state worker pay raises, $100 million for land-

use and farmland preservation, and $60 million for "members'

projects" such as a Yogi Berra Museum and a Frank Sinatra

Museum.  No wonder these days New Jerseyites are saying,

"Will the real Christine Todd Whitman please stand up."

Score

Grade

Rank

Overall Fiscal Policy Score

57

B

12

Spending Score

46

C

24

Revenue and Tax Rate Score

62

B

5

Amount

2.4%

Average Annual Change in Real Per Capita Direct General Spending through 1996

1.3%

Average Annual Change in Direct General Spending Per $1,000 Personal Income through 1996

-0.3%

Average Annual Recommended Change in Real Per Capita General Fund Spending through 1999

-1.6%

Average Annual Change in General Fund Spending Per $1,000 Personal Income 1996-98

-1.3%

Average Annual Change in Real Per Capita Tax Revenue through 1997

-2.6%

Average Annual Change in Tax Revenue Per $1,000 Personal Income through 1997

-3.7%

Average Annual Recommended Change in General Fund Revenue Per $1,000 Personal Income through 1999

-1.1%

Average Annual Change in Real Per Capita General Fund Revenue 1996-98

-0.8%

Average Annual Recommended Tax Changes as % of Prior Year's Spending through 1999

-0.6

Change in Top Personal Income Tax Rate, proposed and/or enacted (% points)

-0.375

Change in Top Corporate Income Tax Rate, proposed and/or enacted (% points)

15.4

1998 Combined Top Income Tax Rates (Personal plus Corporate) (*0.5)

0.0

Change in Sales Tax Rate, proposed and/or enacted (% points)

7.0

Change in Gas Tax Rate, proposed and/or enacted (cents per gallon) (*0.5)