Brown: State must cut spending, encourage business BY CHRIS GAETANO Staff Writer Dan Brown New Jersey, says 18th District Republican state Senate candidate Dan Brown, is living far beyond its means, and this fact is weighing heavily on its residents. Skeptical of various proposals intended to increase revenues, such as asset monetization, the matrimonial attorney from East Brunswick feels the best option is to cut spending. "When I say, how do you find a real new way to get property tax reform and relief, there's two options: one, find a new, recurring, stable revenue source for a few billion per year, or, two, reduce spending. I think everyone here in the real world, excluding those people in Trenton, we all know option one doesn't exist," said Brown. " …You do what every person would do if they lost their job: you tighten your belt." To this end, if elected, he is proposing an immediate 5 percent cut to state spending, which he says will yield $1.5 billion in savings. From then on, according to this proposal, all spending would be capped at no greater than the rate of inflation. From that point on, all budgets would start with a zero base, and "every expense in their budget, every employee, every position, every paper clip" would need to be justified. "A lot of [government programs] are, in fact, well-intentioned and good causes but when you're hemorrhaging in debt to the tune of billions, you can't afford these niceties; the fact of the matter is, they have to go," Brown said. Forcing departments to make such justifications will make the state run itself more efficiently, he said, noting that if you lay down ultimatums, administrators will do what they can to eliminate redundancies and other waste. In this vein, he is critical of the proposal to have an elected state comptroller, a cause that incumbent Sen. Barbara Buono, his Democratic opponent, supports. He questioned why one would be needed when there is already an inspector general and an auditor. Brown also feels that the ways schools are funded is also producing an undue hardship upon New Jersey residents and that much of the problems can be traced to the sheer number of school districts in the state. To Brown, 611 is too many, noting that many districts only have one school, or even no schools, but still have larger support staffs. "You've got superintendents, business administrators, supervisors and, in addition to their salaries, you're paying their benefits. I'm not talking about mass consolidation of the schools, but you absolutely have to consolidate where it's screaming to be done," said Brown. Another way to address the state's financial troubles, to Brown, is to cut through a lot of what he feels is unnecessary red tape and regulations placed upon businesses. "I've spoken to professionals who have spoken to me they have had to almost hire an employee just to deal with the forms they need to fill out. You are not going to promote employers with all this red tape," said Brown. The problem, Brown says, the state has with property taxes has led to businesses fleeing New Jersey. The solution is to cut business taxes and ease regulation. "You've got to reduce spending and then business taxes. … That's how you turn this thing around," said Brown. Another issue Brown feels is of utmost importance is ethics reform. Frustrated by what he feels has been the watering down of reform proposals in the statehouse, he thinks that the state needs to come down hard on public corruption. To Brown, this means a complete ban on dual office holding, tougher penalties for indiscretions, such as loss of all public pensions, and introducing eight-year term limits for legislators. "When people are sitting there in the same post, year after year, decade after decade, it creates an extremely unhealthy environment. … Let these people serve eight years and move on," said Brown. Brown's background in marital law has led him to observe issues that he admits may not be as popular a problem to discuss but are disrupting many lives in New Jersey. Under a 2006 state Supreme Court decision, people cannot be incarcerated for failure to make child-support payments unless the court provides them counsel. The problem, Brown says, is that there is currently no framework for how these appointments would be done, save the general principle that it needs to happen. "There is no mechanism for how these attorneys will be appointed, there is no funding mechanism, no mechanism at all … and what the result is when parents come before the court, if they're indigent and facing incarceration, and not showing any good-faith efforts, the court's hands are tired, they have to cut them loose," said Brown. Brown also stated that while he is a supporter of civil unions, he is hesitant about the notion of same-sex marriage, saying that it would encourage an alternative lifestyle. "If you're going to teach it, you're condoning children being brought up without a mother or father, and while we understand that this is America 2007, and that happens, it's unfortunate when it happens, and I don't think we should encourage and condone it," Brown said. Brown's previous political experience includes an unsuccessful run for the East Brunswick Township Council.