President Barack Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage to ABC News Wednesday. Senate President Stephen Sweeney, who is pushing for the Marriage Equality Bill’s passage in New Jersey, spoke with NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider about same-sex marriage, tax cuts and revenue concerns.
Sweeney reacted positively to Obama’s announcement. “He’s the leader of this nation. And he’s identified what we all recognize, which is marriage equality is a civil rights issue,” Sweeney said. “We can’t have a better spokesperson than the president saying, ‘Listen, it’s time for this to happen.'”
The Senate president said he hopes Gov. Chris Christie will rethink his position on same-sex marriage. Christie vetoed the Marriage Equality Bill in February and called for a referendum on the issue instead. Sweeney opposes a referendum. “We know what happens with referendums,” he said. “When the majority has the opportunity it always denies the minority the same rights that they enjoy.”
Sweeney says he will work hard to override Christie’s veto. “I’m going to go very hard for a veto override. We have 24 votes this time around, 10 more than last. There were Republicans that wanted to vote for the bill but were concerned about their seats if they voted for it,” Sweeney said. “We have time to work toward an override and I think we can get there.”
In addition to the same-sex marriage issue, Sweeney talked about lowering property taxes. He has introduced legislation that would stop municipalities from using increased fees to raise money to circumvent the 2 percent property tax cap. “My bill says you can create fees if you choose, they just have to count against the property tax cap. We were serious about the property tax cap,” he said. “People pay way too much in taxes.” He said an average tax bill of $7,500 is unbearable for people.
While Sweeney said he hadn’t read a report that shows New Jersey is not meeting revenue expectations, he has heard about it. “Obviously it’s concerning if our revenues aren’t performing the way they need to,” he said. “That’s something no one should take pleasure in. That means the economy’s not doing as well as we’d like it to do and there’s more people out of work than should be.”
Some have said the Garden State can’t afford any tax cut, but Sweeney disagrees. “The more money you give government, they spend it,” he said. “And we have to find ways to get money back to the taxpayers so they can spend it in the economy and create jobs.”
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