Following a tour at the Hoboken American Legion yesterday, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-19) discussed his plans for the state’s largest tax relief program, Roe vs. Wade, and gun control in an interview.
“What I’ve said is that we need to have the biggest tax relief program in the history of the State of New Jersey and we do. We’ve been fortunate in terms of the revenue numbers that we’ve had and there are people in the State of New Jersey who are feeling the pressures of post-pandemic,” he told HCV.
“The pressures of inflation are soaring and we need to make sure that we’re acting to make sure that they get what they need. So we’re gonna do that, the plan is one that I have an outline for. I’m working, as I said, with my colleagues in the Assembly, my colleagues in the Senate, and the governor to craft the final form of that.”
Coughlin pledged to have that relief program included in the state budget, which must be approved by June 30th.
When asked about a minimum police staffing bill (A-857) that would require any municipality with over 60,000 residents – that also has a violent crime rate of 10 per 1,000 residents – to hire four police officers for every 1,000 residents, Coughlin said he was not familiar with the particulars, but noted that every piece of Assembly legislation goes through “a thorough and thoughtful process.”
When asked about his thoughts on the possibility of the Supreme Court overturning of Roe vs. Wade being overturned, as well as gun control in light of massacres in Buffalo and Uvalde, Coughlin said New Jerseyans should know that their being taken care of here.
“I think these are both topics that the people of New Jersey ought to be secure in the fact that we have stood up for the people of New Jersey. We passed the codification of Roe vs. Wade in January of this year, preserving women’s right to choose,” he explained.
” … We have some of the strictest gun laws in the country. We’re looking at additional measures, but as of right now, as we see here today, New Jersey’s gun laws are strong and are designed to be sane gun safety measures.”
“If taxes are your issue New Jersey is not the State for you.”