Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, R-Monmouth, issued the following statement on Governor Christie’s Fiscal Year 2014 budget address:

“This is a responsible budget that will keep New Jersey moving forward while we rebuild our communities that were devastated by Hurricane Sandy.

“This budget invests in education and pays down debt at the highest levels ever in our state’s history. After we saved taxpayers $120 billion from historic public employee benefits reform, Governor Christie has now invested more in the pension system than the last four governors combined.

“The communities in my district can look forward to additional funding for school districts operating under adequacy. I have been fighting for fairer funding of districts like Freehold Borough and I’m glad to see we have begun to move in a better direction.

“We have made some hard choices over the last few years to reform our fiscal house and those efforts have enabled New Jersey to withstand the worst natural disaster in state history and put us in a position to grow the economy, create jobs and make our state more affordable.”