Chris Daggett in Survey of Gubernatorial campaign websites, 2001-2009
On Corporations:
New Jersey is simply not competitive
In a world of increasing competition, New Jersey is simply not competitive. We were not competitive before the national economy crashed, and we are not doing what we need to do to make
New Jersey competitive in the new economy that will emerge one, two or three years from now, when this Great Recession finally ends.
Source: 2009 Gubernatorial campaign website, daggettforgovernor.com
Jul 21, 2009
On Education:
Whatever works best--public, private, religious, charter
Education is critical to the future prosperity of New Jersey. For more than 35 years, in response to numerous NJ Supreme Court cases, we have spent billions on improving urban education, with very little to show for it. Despite spending more than $20,000
per student, high school graduation rates remain abysmally low in Newark, Camden and numerous other urban school districts. Even worse, in some cases as many as 90% of the graduates need remedial help in basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics
before being able to attend or succeed in college.This is not just a financial and educational issue, it is a moral issue. Whatever works best for each student should be utilized--public, private, religious, charter, vocational or home-based schools.
We must set rigorous standards, improve teaching, and cultivate greater parental involvement, and we must coordinate with social service agencies. We cannot accept excuses, we cannot fail, and we cannot just continue to throw more money at the problem.
Source: 2009 Gubernatorial campaign website, daggettforgovernor.com
Jul 21, 2009
On Energy & Oil:
Slow the release of chemicals that increase global warming
Protecting our state's environment and slowing the release of chemicals that increase global warming--which we first warned about and started to address when I was the Commissioner of the state Dept. of Environmental Protection 20 years ago--is important
to every human being who eats and breathes in NJ. The state that creates the research capacity to provide innovative solutions to our environmental and energy needs will be the home of the next Silicon Valley. That state should be NJ.
Source: 2009 Gubernatorial campaign website, daggettforgovernor.com
Jul 21, 2009
On Environment:
Strong environment and strong economy goes hand in hand
More than ever before, a strong environment and strong economy goes hand in hand. We need to control development in the Highlands and the Pinelands to protect our water supply, and we must live up to the promises made to those whose land value has been
significantly reduced as a result. The State Plan makes sense and should be finalized and implemented. It also makes sense to re-think the mandates of COAH that have pushed thousands of units of "builder's remedy" housing into suburbs.
Source: 2009 Gubernatorial campaign website, daggettforgovernor.com
Jul 21, 2009
On Free Trade:
Worry about losing jobs to China & India but also to NY & NC
We not only have to worry about losing jobs to China and India, but to New York and North Carolina. We must make the investments needed to create high-paying jobs, cut the high cost of living in
New Jersey and doing business here, and reform a regulatory climate that makes relocation firms rank New Jersey near the bottom as a place to start or expand a business.
Source: 2009 Gubernatorial campaign website, daggettforgovernor.com
Jul 21, 2009
On Government Reform:
Simplify burdensome regulatory structure & byzantine rules
We have no choice but to address the burdensome and complex regulatory structure of New Jersey, which is related directly to many of the other problems facing our state. Few, if any, people in or out of government understand the many and often byzantine
rules of the various departments of state government. Many hours and much money are wasted with consultants and lawyers trying to understand, or arguing over interpretations of, regulations.We need to convene widely representative task forces in
virtually every department of state government, with the goal of addressing overlapping, conflicting, redundant and contradictory regulations. There should be no intent to roll back or dilute existing requirements, but simply to make them easier
to understand and follow. It is a project that will take two to four years, and it will not get much attention, nor have any media appeal, but if we don't address it, we will never improve the efficiency, effectiveness or costs of government.
Source: 2009 Gubernatorial campaign website, daggettforgovernor.com
Jul 21, 2009
On Tax Reform:
NJ bears the most punishing tax burden in the nation
There is no magic here. We have spent and borrowed our way into a deep hole, partly due to the national financial crisis, but in even greater measure due to failed state & local budgetary policies of several administrations and both political parties.
Between federal, state and local taxes, New Jerseyans probably bear the most punishing tax burden in the nation, especially when you factor in the high cost of living. But the state budget isn't even the biggest problem.
Property taxes, not state taxes--local spending, not state spending--are the biggest problems. These are self-inflicted wounds, and we need a governor willing to start talking seriously about reducing the real cost drivers of ever-rising salary,
health care benefit and pension costs and the price we all pay to fund 566 municipalities and more than 600 school districts in the name of home rule.
Source: 2009 Gubernatorial campaign website, daggettforgovernor.com
Jul 21, 2009
On Technology:
Expand mass transit; fix crumbling highways and bridges
Because we are the most densely populated state in the nation, we must expand our mass transit capacity and fix our crumbling highways and bridges. We need to give our pharmaceutical and biomedical companies what
they need not only to survive but to thrive.We need to market our natural attractions, beginning with the priceless New Jersey Shore, and that means putting money into tourism promotion--not taking it away.
Source: 2009 Gubernatorial campaign website, daggettforgovernor.com
Jul 21, 2009
Page last updated: Dec 02, 2018