ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION No. 8

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED MAY 1, 1997

By Assemblymen LeFEVRE, BLEE, Rocco, Assemblywoman Wright and Assemblyman Kramer

An Assembly Resolution memorializing the Congress of the United States to reject the findings and recommendations of the Boskin Commission with respect to the Consumer Price Index.

Whereas, The Consumer Price Index (CPI), serves very important functions, both as an economic indicator that provides timely information on the prices paid by consumers and as a measure used extensively for indexing to adjust Social Security benefits and other federal programs, and

Whereas, A commission of economists named for its chairman, Michael Boskin, questioned the validity of the current CPI as a measure of inflation last December when it reported to the United States Congress that the Consumer Price Index overstates inflation by 1.1 percentage points; and

Whereas, There is increasing evidence that the commission's views were faulty, particularly because its findings seemed to imply that it is possible to produce a perfect cost-of living index that measures the inflation experience of most Americans; and

Whereas, The Bureau of Labor Statistics in the United States Department of Labor, which produces the Consumer Price Index and has a long tradition of being in the forefront of price measurement research and operational innovation, has made vast improvements to the procedures used in constructing the CPI, especially over the last few years, and continues to strive to improve its methods to adjust for quality changes as well as to ensure that new items are brought to the index in a timely fashion; and

Whereas, The Boskin Commission's findings fail to take into consideration that inflation has increased at a faster rate for senior citizens than for the general population, particularly because senior citizens are often required to spend heavily on health care, whose costs have risen dramatically in recent years; and

Whereas, Adoption of the conclusions of the Boskin Commission would, thus, be especially detrimental to senior citizens, who deserve respect, admiration and a fair level of support in recognition of their numerous contributions and sacrifices for this Nation; now, therefore,

    Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. The Congress of the United States is respectfully memorialized to reject the findings and recommendations of the Boskin Commission with respect to the Consumer Price Index.

    2. Duly authenticated copies of this resolution, signed by the Speaker of the General Assembly and attested by the Clerk of the General Assembly, shall be forwarded to the presiding officers of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, and to each of the members of the Congress of the United States elected from the State of New Jersey.

STATEMENT

    This Assembly Resolution memorializes the Congress of the United States to reject the findings and recommendations of the Boskin Commission with respect to the Consumer Price Index.

Memorializes U.S. Congress to reject findings of Boskin Commission regarding inflation.