Atlantic County-Republican Assemblymen Vince Polistina and John Amodeo are escalating their relentless assault on New Jersey’s middle class families, voting to deny parents and their children critically-needed health benefits. They struck their latest blow against the working class by supporting the governor’s effort to lower the eligibility threshold for NJ FamilyCare, which provides affordable healthcare to thousands of families throughout Atlantic County.  Currently the average costs for family healthcare is more than $13,700 a year. 

“Yet again, Vince Polistina and John Amodeo have abdicated their responsibility to Atlantic County families,” said State Sen. Jim Whelan, who represents the Second District. “It’s unconscionable for any elected official to support a budget that punishes working families by cutting off their access to health care.”

Whelan, along with his Assembly runningmates Alisa Cooper and Damon Tyner, said it was another example of Polistina and Amodeo selling out the middle class to curry favor with their party leaders, rather than showing real leadership and standing up for their constituents. They said Polistina’s vote was particularly shameful in light of recent revelations that he has made more than $6 million in profits directly off the backs of the same hard-working families whose interests he refuses to represent.

“During my tenure in the Senate, I have sought to create jobs in Atlantic County that provide a livable wage and health care for our many middle class families,” Whelan said.  “Although we have taken the necessary steps to revive the casino industry and created legislation to advance and attract small businesses, many families are either out of work or have taken a lower paying job.  I voted against similar cuts last year.  NJ FamilyCare provides a safety net to these working class families so they will not be overburdened with the medical cost. ”

Currently there are 26,000 Atlantic County children enrolled in the program.  The cuts in 2010 to NJ FamilyCare and other similar programs shut out thousands of parents--and ultimately 18,000 children--who were once eligible.  It is estimated that at least 23,000 families will not have access to healthcare as a result of these proposed budget cuts. Eventually, the cost for unexpected emergency care will fall in the lap of taxpayers.

“Since the collapse of the national economy, many families in Atlantic County have had trouble finding the higher paying jobs that were once available,” said Cooper, an Atlantic County Freeholder.  “As our taxes have continued to rise, Assemblyman Polistina has profited royally from his engineering contracts with public entities and paid for by the taxpayers. If he genuinely wished to be honest with his constituents, he’d participate in a more transparent bidding process for those government contracts.  Even worse is that he continues to make millions on the backs of Atlantic County families without even supporting their basic needs.”

“It is evident that Amodeo and Polsitina are out of touch with their own constituents,” said Tyner.  “Atlantic County is dominated by middle class families. In today’s job environment employers unfortunately do not always offer health care or even a wage that will allow a family to purchase their own.  I am deeply troubled that our current Assembly Members do not understand this simple fact.  Even more troubling--while sitting as an elected official, he raises the fees he charges towns, continues to rake in millions of taxpayer dollars, while actively seeking cuts to crucial programs that serve the very same taxpayers footing his million dollar bills.”

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