Hello and welcome to the “SolutionsforNewJersey.com” website.

Our elected officials have spent years talking about New Jersey’s problems – throwing billions of dollars at the state’s problems, but not solving any of them. It seems that today’s politicians go out of their way to find new issues, pass unnecessary laws and spend more and more money so that we forget that they are not solving anything.

Fiscal Fact:

All people really want is a safe, clean and affordable place To live, work and raise a family.

Somewhere along the way, this has been forgotten.

The New Jersey Budget is now over $33 billion per year and our debt is another $35 billion! For all of that money, look at where we are:

• Property taxes continue to rise, forcing the middle class to leave the state;
• Seniors and those on fixed incomes are faced with ever increasing property taxes and the threat of losing their homes due to it;
• Over regulation and taxes are forcing companies and jobs to leave New Jersey;
• Our transportation infrastructure is deteriorating;
• Lack of adequate Charity Care funding is putting hospitals in serious fiscal jeopardy;
• Duplicate regulations add between $70-90,000 to the cost of a new house;
• PAAD co-pays continue to increase, putting a greater financial burden on those who can least afford it;

Both parties can share the blame for this mess and the finger pointing accomplishes nothing. It’s time to stop politics as usual and work to solve New Jersey’s problems once and for all!

Only aggressive actions – actions that involve our citizens in the process – will get our state back on the right track. Our situation is dire and cute web sites, study commissions and blue-ribbon panels only serve to delay making the tough choices necessary to turn New Jersey around.

Fiscal Fact:

14,500 jobs left New Jersey in the first 7 months of 2008!

Solutions is seeking your help, input and support because together we can provide solutions to many of New Jersey’s most pressing problems. Our top issues are:

1. Property taxes – the highest in the nation;

2. School Funding;

3. Hospital Charity Care;

4. Waste, fraud and abuse;

5. Pension funding;

6. State Debt;

7. Crime and political corruption;

8. A crumbling transportation infrastructure;

9. Over-regulation and an aggressive state bureaucracy;

10. A socialist mentality on Affordable Housing.

Clearly, these are not the only issues we face. Serious matters such as a Supreme Court that legislates from the bench can only be solved by appointing judges who will interpret the law – not make it!

In the SolutionsForNewJersey web site, you will see many more issues laid out and discussed and I encourage your comments and feedback.

We thank you for taking the time to read this introduction and hope that as you enter the Solutions for New Jersey web site and read these ideas, that we can work together to come up with real solutions to New Jersey’s problems. And please, let’s leave partisanship and personal attacks out of the equation, they only exacerbate the situation and accomplish nothing.

We are committed to solving New Jersey’s problems, but it takes more than one person. Yes, NJ’s problems are solvable. It will take creative ideas, a true vision and guts to stand up to those who support the status quo. But, most important, it will take you, the public, to stand with me to force the Legislature and Governor to really address the issues, to get the job done.

Together, we will succeed!

Sincerely,

Senator Richard J. LaRossa, Ret.

Chief Operating and Executive Officer

Solutions for New Jersey, Inc.