By John S. Wisniewski

By John S. Wisniewski

With a net 20 percent property tax increase since 2009 and 9.9 percent unemployment, these are tough times for New Jerseyans. The income gap between the wealthy and the middle class is growing. More families are living in poverty.

Unfortunately, Gov. Chris Christie has been missing in action. That’s why The Star-Ledger’s Sept. 23 editorial (“Enough sniping on jobs”) missed the point when it absolved the governor for our high unemployment rate.

No one person is responsible for an economy’s unemployment, but the governor has shown a startling lack of leadership on job creation. In fact, he has enacted policies that directly put people on the unemployment line.

One decision by the governor — to cancel the new commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River — cost the state upward of 50,000 jobs. His action cost 6,000 immediate construction jobs and 44,000 future permanent new jobs.

The canceled tunnel is the most obvious example of the governor’s contribution to New Jersey’s high unemployment, but not the only. The state’s school construction program has sputtered to a baffling slow grind since he took office, costing even more construction jobs.

Democrats have tried to work with the governor. We passed a package of more than 30 bills to address our floundering economy. The package offered a broad plan to create jobs, attract businesses, spark long-term economic growth and help our unemployed residents find work. Most of these bills would have required little money up front and would have offered tax credits only when businesses produced job creation or expansion. This would have been a sound investment, but the governor vetoed many of the measures and watered down others.

Some of the vetoes were clearly done solely so he could claim credit. For example, on a Friday afternoon, he vetoed two substantial business tax initiatives designed to create jobs, then, on the following Tuesday proposed essentially the same bills. Thus, the tax reform that could have led to immediate job creation was delayed for several weeks to assuage the governor’s ego.

Then we have his careless budget cuts. Everyone agreed the recession meant cutting costs, but his priorities were wrong and it meant layoffs for valued public servants such as teachers, police officers and firefighters. By late last year, the state had 4,000 fewer police officers. That is detrimental to both public safety and employment in our state.

But it’s not always the governor’s action. Sometimes, it’s his inaction.

In June, the Legislature passed a bill to help businesses struggling with the credit and finance industry by extending building permits. But rather than giving these businesses the confidence to plan ahead, the governor let the bill languish on his desk for as long as he could legally before taking action. Although the governor eventually approved it, businesses lost three months, raising the question of whether his out-of-state travels had taken precedence over his responsibility to New Jersey.

Objective observers also should hold him accountable for double standards. As a candidate, Chris Christie was quick to cast blame for what turned out to be a better economy than he himself has overseen. He has proclaimed himself an economic guru, but that myth doesn’t stand up to the facts. As candidate Christie said in August 2009, “I don’t know how, when unemployment continues to go up, that you can say that’s a success.”

The governor has done next to nothing to spur job creation and help our middle class and poor. Frustration with his lack of leadership to address increasing unemployment is well-justified.

Assemblyman John S. Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) represents the 19th Legislative District. He is Deputy Assembly Speaker and chairs the Assembly Transportation, Public Works and Independent Authorities Committee, as well as the state’s Democratic Party.