To Mr. Sweeney, Mr. Prieto, and every member of the New Jersey State Legislature:

Regardless of whether one voted for Trump or Clinton, one cannot ignore the reality of Trump’s victory. Despite all the money his opponent spent, all the organization she had, all the establishment support she enjoyed, and all the predictions of the media, it was not enough to defeat the will of the people who sent a loud and clear message that the status quo of politics-as-usual, that benefits only the few at the expense of everyone else, was no longer acceptable.

In case things evaded your attention or you’re oblivious to what is happening in your own state, the people here in New Jersey are also sick and tired of the same politics-as-usual.

It might be time for all of you in Trenton, both Democrats and Republicans, to get together and solve the biggest and most urgent problem facing all New Jerseyans, which is property tax. Property tax reform cannot be achieved without a reform of the benefits currently enjoyed by the public sector employees.

It’s time to level the field and bring all public sector benefits in line with the private sector. It’s unreasonable to ask the average citizen, who can hardly afford health insurance for him and his family, to pay for an annual $30,000 platinum plan for a public sector employee. It’s also unconscionable to ask an average citizen, who lives or will be living on social security, with or without a 401k, to pay pension benefits of public employees for the duration of their lifetimes and of their beneficiaries’ lifetimes. A silver plan and a 401k should be sufficient for public sector employees and will be in line with what the private sector offers. It will save the State billions of dollars every year and will reduce property taxes.

Unfortunately, there is no logical reason for this inequality. The only reason is pure greed, corruption, and lack of courage to tackle those problems that will ultimately bankrupt our state if no action is taken. If you already have over 200 billion dollars of unfunded pension liabilities that you cannot pay, how will you ever be able to pay it by adding to that liability? Even public sector employees should wise up and accept smaller and guaranteed benefits instead of accepting the promise of much larger but illusive benefits.

Politicians pay large amounts of money for advice on how to get elected and re-elected. I am giving you simple and free advice that will guarantee you will get re-elected forever if you follow one simple rule: Serve the people, not the special interest groups. If you think you are invincible and this rule does not apply to you, I suggest you look at what happened to Hillary and the Democrats nationwide and think again.

George Kneisser Sr.

Executive Director, Citizens for Property Tax Reform