Following the Senate Democrats' announcement this afternoon that they plan to hold override votes on Gov. Chris Christie's line item budget vetoes, state Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr. (R-21) of Westfield morphed into instant attack mode.

"We would not be here if the Majority had chosen to negotiate a balanced budget with the Governor and Legislative Republicans rather than use the budget process to make a political statement," Kean charged. "A bi-partisan, negotiated budget worked perfectly well last year. Overriding a Governor's veto should be a thoughtful decision that is used sparingly by the Legislature, not as a tool to churn political fodder for the fall campaign. The Majority's never ending use of this extraordinary tool shows that they are more concerned about political theater than the actual outcome."

Kean said if the majority truly wanted to restore some line items lost in what he said was an "overly politicized budget process," Democrats would have done what they failed to do before they passed a budget: picked up the phone, called the Governor, and asked to negotiate a compromise with the front office and Legislative Republicans.

"Finding common ground was possible just a few weeks ago on pension and benefits reform, and there was no reason it couldn't have been found on the budget without anyone abandoning their principles," Kean said.