This is why affordability and the economy are issues in NJ's legislative election

Editor's note: In advance of the Nov. 7 election, which will decide control of the New Jersey Legislature, NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY Network are exploring the issues driving Democratic and Republican campaigns.

For generations, politicians in New Jersey have focused on the state’s economy in an effort to win races. The Garden State is among the most expensive to live in and has some of the highest property tax rates in the United States.

Though the state’s affordability may not be as flashy as some of the issues that take center stage on a national level, here at home residents are concerned about being able to maintain their quality of life.

What's driving the debate

Both parties have come up with plans for tax relief, both short and long term, but it is still coming up on the campaign trail, with all 120 seats in the Legislature up for grabs in November.

Plans like ANCHOR and StayNJ, sponsored by Democrats, received bipartisan support, and the former is in its second year while the latter won’t be fully operational until 2026. But other ideas, like the Republican-backed “Give it Back” proposal, never gained traction in the Legislature.

Ben Dworkin, founding director of the Rowan Institute for Public Policy & Citizenship, said "affordability is almost always an issue in New Jersey elections.” He noted that it gets “wrapped up in discussions about property taxes and inflation and the general high cost of living that comes with living in New Jersey.”

Dworkin said Democratic majorities in the Legislature, and the Murphy administration, have spent the last two years focusing on affordability issues and will want to highlight that.

“They want to run on that record, the StayNJ program, the expansion of the ANCHOR program, and other kinds of investments they made,” he said.

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What are Democrats saying?

State Sen. Joseph Lagana, D-Bergen, said that when we think about affordability in the state, it means property taxes and tax burdens, so he is "always looking to adopt policies that will actually help people and have a tangible benefit."

"When you talk about something like ANCHOR, it's money in someone's pocket. It's people getting checks," he said. "Educating people on how to apply for things and using our constituent services is a big deal for us."

Lagana went on to say that when you consider all of the policies, like ANCHOR and the Senior Freeze tax program, "it means something for our residents where they can see we are taking taxpayer dollars and reinvesting it into the community."

What are Republicans saying?

State Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco pointed out that the state has the highest property taxes in the nation and the think tank Truth in Accounting gave the state’s finances a failing grade.

“One of the things that I think we need to fix is to stop property tax relief from being decided at the whim of a particular governor,” Bucco said. “That's really what we have now in New Jersey. I just don't think that's sustainable long term.”

Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ elections 2023: Why affordability, economy are issues