Driver’s Licenses, Corporate Tax Fraud, and NJ’s Latinx Community
NJ state leaders are supporting policies that benefit only the politically connected while failing to enact policies that advance the Latinx community.
Dr. Patricia Campos-Medina wrote an insightful piece on the state of the Latinx community in New Jersey and some of the important policy priorities important to Latinx voters. Most importantly, she reminds the state’s political leaders that “it is not enough just to celebrate our heritage and culture” and that we need to demand “ALL NJ political leaders to stop bickering for power and act on behalf of 20% of your tax-paying Latino families.” She placed particular emphasis on four policy priorities: 1) Driver’s License Legislation for Undocumented Immigrants, 2) Increasing the number of Latinx Appointments to the New Jersey’s Boards and Commissions, 3) Elimination of Multi-Member Legislative Districts, and 4) Desegregation of School Districts.
Here are a few thoughts in response:
Anyone reading this should acknowledge one overall theme: NJ’s political system currently works to prevent the Latinx community from gaining power and effectuating policies that benefit this community. This system works on multiple levels to ensure there is no pipeline to create leaders and place them in positions that are consequential to the well-being of this state. Despite having one of the best school systems in the country, our students are segregated from the best educational opportunities. Early on, we are held back from acquiring access to power. As Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey President Julia Lopez has pointed out, only 4% of lawyers across the country are Latinx. Among Fortune 500 firms, only 3% of boardroom seats are held by someone of Latinx heritage. Even for those of us who can advance in our education and career, as Dr. Campos-Medina pointed out, we aren’t allowed to have a say on issues like transportation, infrastructure, or the environment.
The exclusion of the New Jersey Latinx community from positions of power and consequence isn’t a new story or one that is unique to it. However, we always need to remind ourselves and the state’s political leaders that the current system is only working for a privileged few. Despite polling indicating that a majority of New Jersey voters favor passing a law allowing driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants, it’s been reported that Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin will not consider posting the bill until after the November 2019 General Assembly elections. The reasoning offered by political insiders is that he fears political attacks on his fellow assembly members. Critics argue that this is an example of failed leadership by Coughlin as he ignores an important democratic constituency. Others counter that Coughlin is playing the politics right by not endangering any of his fellow assembly members.
However, we should remember the following about the driver’s license bill: advocates have spent more than 10 years pushing the state legislature for a bill that helps the most vulnerable among us, but when it came to extending the business tax incentive program that was full of fraud and mismanagement, the legislature passed the bill with large majority support.
The tax incentive extension was highly controversial and the Governor threatened to veto the bill. So, why did the legislature pass a bill that was dead on arrival? Not surprisingly, the companies that benefited the most from the tax incentives were all politically connected. Those same companies are also now subject to a federal investigation for lying in their applications to receive corporate subsidies.
Everyone knew this bill was bad news. Studies indicated that New Jersey’s return of investment for its corporate tax incentives ranked among the worst nationwide. Furthermore, billions of dollars were given out in corporate tax breaks while the state also cut funds for public schools, NJ Transit, and state colleges and universities. The billions of dollars in revenue that could have been collected from the corporate taxes could have been invested back into communities that needed it the most. Instead, the state doesn’t even know whether the businesses that received the tax incentives hired residents, women, or people of color.
The reform of the corporate tax incentive program is an issue that matters to the Latinx community and it should be viewed together with the unwillingness of the legislature to pass a driver’s license bill. Together, they clearly show that there are more leaders eagerly supporting policies that benefit only the politically connected while failing to enact policies protecting our most vulnerable. Also, at a time where federal tax policy is further driving wealth inequality, Dr. Campos-Medina’s call for leaders and advocates to “fight like hell for our community’s economic future” should be heeded with urgency.
