McHOSE/CHIUSANO: GOVERNOR SHOULD BE HONEST WITH TAXPAYERS ABOUT PUBLIC WORKER UNION PACT

Gone – 1. Bygone : past. 2. Advanced beyond recall or hope. 3. Dying or dead. 4. Lost: ruined. 5. Carried away: absorbed. 6. Used up : exhausted.

    Governor Corzine should end his charade that the tentative agreement with state worker unions will save taxpayers money in the long-term, Assembly members Alison Littell McHose and Gary Chiusano, both R-Sussex, Morris and Hunterdon, said today.

    “This deal merely defers a raise and gives workers seven additional paid days off, all of which can be collected before the economy rebounds,” said McHose, a member of the Assembly Budget Committee. “He has made it even harder for future governors, who may be more concerned for taxpayers than public employee unions, to reduce government and make New Jersey affordable for middle class taxpayers.”

    McHose and Chiusano objected to Corzine portraying a 3.5 percent raise that was due next month as “gone,” when it has just been pushed off for 18 months, according to The Star-Ledger.

    “Despite the governor’s characterization, this raise is not gone. Like a zombie in a bad horror movie, it will rise from the dead in January 2011 along with more paid days off when there’s no guarantee New Jersey taxpayers will be in a better financial position than they are today,” said Chiusano, a member of the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee. “The governor should try leveling with a leery constituency and acknowledge that this deal was made in haste to shift a few dollars from his proposed budget in order to score political points with his friends in Washington and state worker unions.”

    The Star-Ledger also quoted the governor saying he was concerned that the unions won’t accept the deal.

    “The governor has shown plenty of empathy for state worker unions and Vice President Biden’s support of unions, but he has failed to show concern for the taxpayers he continues to use to fund his illogical schemes,” McHose said.