Atlantic County Republican Committee

GOP Chair Davis Calls on Dem Chair to Urge Defeat of Corzine Budget and Tax Increases ATLANTIC COUNTY REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE

Release: Immediate, CONTACT: Keith Davis
June 16, 2006 677-0707

Atlantic County Republican chairman Keith Davis today questioned whether his Democratic counterpart, Ron Ruff, “intends to urge his party’s legislators to join with him in opposing Gov. Jon Corzine’s proposed state budget and sales tax increase.�

“Having decided that Gov. Corzine’s proposed budget is bad for New Jersey, Ruff should now undertake to persuade Assemblyman Jim Whelan --- who was instrumental in putting him in office --- and other Democrats in the Legislature to vote against it,� Davis said. “The Republicans in the Assembly have proposed a series of cost-cutting recommendations totaling over $4 billion to avoid the need for any tax increases. Now that Ruff has signed onto the Republican platform, he should spend his time and energy convincing Whelan and other Democrats to do the same.�

“Has Ruff informed the Governor and the Democratic leadership of the Legislature that he opposes the budget and tax increase?� Davis asked. “Has Ruff conveyed his opposition to Sen. Robert Menendez and warned him that if he continues to support this tax and spend budget, Atlantic County Democrats will pull back their endorsement of his candidacy?�

“I would urge Ruff to take his new found love of fiscal responsibility one step further. His first official act as county chairman should be to ask the county committee members to approve a resolution opposing the Governor’s budget and massive tax increases and convey it to the Governor and the Legislature,� Davis said.

“I sure Gov. Corzine is comforted in knowing that the newly-elected leader of the Democratic Party in Atlantic County has turned his back on him after one week in office,� Davis said. “I, for one, am very pleased that Ruff is as opposed to the Corzine budget as we Republicans are, but he has a lot more leg work to do to stop it.�