WHEREAS, New
Jersey's Sales and Use Tax is a substantial source of revenue for
the State, generating in excess of $5 billion annually for essential
programs and services; and
WHEREAS, a
broad base of the Sales and Use Tax allows the State to maintain
a tax rate of six percent; and
WHEREAS, there
are currently over one hundred separate pieces of legislation pending
in the Legislature that would reduce the base of the Sales and Use
Tax Act, N.J.S. A.54:32B-1 et seq., by excluding from taxation products
including bicycle and skating helmets, books, car seats, computers
purchased by teachers, fire detection equipment, medical alarm equipment,
non- gasoline powered lawn care equipment, and shoe soles and heels;
and
WHEREAS, there
have been several recent enactments exempting products from the
Sales and Use Tax and several bills pending on my desk that provide
exemptions for aircraft repairs, Assembly Committee Substitute for
Assembly Bill No. 1952/977, and firearm trigger locks and vaults,
Assembly Bills Nos. 2420 and 2421, and increasing the exemption
threshold for vending machines, Assembly Bill No. 2139; and
WHEREAS, there
are currently several pieces of legislation pending in the Legislature
that would expand the base of the Sales and Use Tax Act by subjecting
products such as pay-per-view video programs to that tax; and
WHEREAS, the
ad hoc reduction and expansion of the base of the Sales and Use
Tax is gradually changing a tax that is simple to collect, easy
to enforce, and a stable revenue generator into a tax that is increasingly
more cumbersome to collect, difficult to enforce, and counterproductive
to generating stable revenue for essential government programs and
services; and
WHEREAS, there
is a need for a comprehensive, coordinated review of any pending
legislation reducing or expanding the base of the sales tax before
any new measures become law, and for an analysis of the effectiveness
of any newly enacted legislation, including Assembly Committee Substitute
for Assembly Bill No. 1952/977, Assembly Bills Nos. 2420, 2421 and
2139 to ensure that such enactments advance legitimate goals, including
but not limited to economic development or business retention;
NOW, THEREFORE,
I, CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN, Governor of the State of New Jersey,
by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:
1. The creation
of the Advisory Committee on the Sales and Use Tax (the "Advisory
Committee").
2. The Advisory
Committee shall be charged with reviewing proposed expansions
and reductions to the base of the Sales and Use Tax as proposed
by the Legislature and making recommendations to the Governor
and Legislature as to whether such proposals should be enacted
into law; furthermore, the Advisory Committee shall be charged
with reviewing any new legislation that expands or reduces the
base of the Sales and Use Tax within three years of such enactment,
and making recommendations to the Governor and Legislature as
to whether such legislation has effectively advanced the legitimate
goals of the legislation; the foregoing recommendations shall
be made by a simple majority vote of Advisory Committee.
3. The Advisory
Committee shall be composed of up to 11 members, as follows:
a. The
State Treasurer or designee;
b. The
Director, Division of Taxation or designee;
c. A representative
of a State department or agency to be appointed by the Governor;
d. A professor
of the higher education community with substantial expertise
in State tax policy to be appointed by the Governor;
e. A member
of the Senate to be appointed by the President of the Senate;
f. A member
of the Assembly to be appointed by the Speaker of the General
Assembly;
g. Five
members of the public to be appointed by the Governor;
The Governor
shall designate a chair and vice-chair from among the members
of the Advisory Committee. The members shall serve without compensation,
but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the
performance of their duties subject to the availability of funds
therefor.
4. The Advisory
Committee shall organize and meet as soon as practicable following
the appointment of its members. The chair shall appoint a secretary
who need not be a member of the Advisory Committee. Vacancies
on the Advisory Committee shall be filled in the same manner as
the original appointment.
5. All State
departments and agencies are hereby directed, to the extent not
inconsistent with the law and within budget constraints, to cooperate
with the Advisory Committee and to respond to requests for such
information, personnel and assistance as may be necessary to accomplish
the purpose of this Order.
6. This
Order shall take effect immediately.
GIVEN,
under my hand and seal,
This 15th day of October in the
Year of Our Lord, One Thousand
Nine Hundred and Ninety-nine,
and of the Independence of the
United States, the Two Hundred
and Twenty- Fourth.
/s/
Christine Todd Whitman
Governor
[seal]
Attest:
/s/ Richard
S. Mroz
Chief Counsel to the Governor
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