FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, October 31, 2013 CONTACT: Jerry Cantrell 973.229.2618 jcantrell@njtaxalliance.

org New Jersey Taxpayers Alliance Names 47 Legislators as Taxpayer Advocates Voting records on pro-taxpayer reform measures show a slowing progress on behalf of taxpayer constituents Trenton, New Jersey The New Jersey Taxpayers Alliance (NJTA) today named 47 legislators Taxpayer Advocates based on their votes on bills key to New Jerseys individual and corporate taxpayers. The Alliance is honoring the legislators after an analysis of voting records on bills deemed crucial to the taxpayer community during the 216th Legislature. New Jerseyans continue to shoulder the nations heaviest state-local tax burden, 2nd only to New York, according to the Tax Foundation. However, the past four years presented legislators with opportunities to make fundamental changes to New Jerseys tax and spending policies. The past two years have been marked by some progress on behalf of taxpayers, but not at the level we saw in the 2009-2011 period, said NJTA Chairman Jerry Cantrell. So in the coming year we hope to see a return to a focus on the issues that ushered in the Christie administration the 33-Tool Kit Platform agenda which held great promise for permanent reforms that would set the state on track for a robust economic turnaround. Todays announcement of the 2013 Taxpayer Advocates is designed to help all New Jerseyans have a better understanding as to who fights for their interests in Trenton. A selection committee of Alliance members determined which bills would be considered for the analysis. Each vote was weighed equally, and legislators voting with the NJTA position on at least 80% of votes were designated as Taxpayer Advocates. This years 47 Taxpayer Advocates represents a decrease of 17 (27%) from the 2011 scorecard, in line with the falloff we noted in our scoring outcomes. The lower number of Taxpayer Advocates this year is reflective of the fact taxpayers have fared worse during the past two years than from 2009-2011. Some bad habits, such as the reflexive urge to raise taxes on high-wage earners, crept in as partisan ideology became a theme in the wake of tough economic circumstances. I hope that the Legislature reverts to a more bipartisan approach, placing taxpayers higher on the priority list so that in two years we are announcing even more Advocate awards than 2011s record 64 winners. Cantrell concluded.

The 2013 New Jersey Taxpayer Alliance Taxpayer Champions are:

General Assembly John Amodeo (R-2) Mary Pat Angelini (R-11) Jon Bramnick (R-21) Chris A. Brown ((R-2) Christopher J. Brown (R-8) Anthony Bucco (R-25) John Burzichelli (D-3) Michael Patrick Carroll (R-25) Caroline Casagrande (R-11) Upendra Chivukula (D-17) Jack Ciattarelli (R-16) Robert Clifton (R-12) Ronald Dancer (R-30) BettyLou DeCroce (R-26) John DiMaio (R-23) DiAnne Gove (R-9) Amy Handlin (R-13) Senate Dawn Marie Addiego (R-8) Christopher Bateman (R-16) Jennifer Beck (R-12) Anthony Bucco (R-25) Gerald Cardinale (R-39) Christopher Connors (R-9) James Holzapfel (R-10) Joseph Kyrillos (R-13) Steven Oroho (R-24) Kevin OToole (R-40) Joseph Pennacchio (R-26) Robert Singer (R-30) Samuel Thompson (R-12) Jeff Van Drew (D-1) ### Sean Kean (R-30) Gregory McGuckin (R-10) Alison McHose (R-24) Nancy Munoz (R-21) Declan OScanlon (R-12) Eric Peterson (R-23) David Rible (R-11) Scott Rudder (R-8) Scott Rumana (R-40) David Russo (R-40) Holly Schepisi (R-39) Robert Schroeder (R-39) Donna Simon (R-16) Parker Space (R-24) Jay Webber (R-26) David Wolfe (R-10)