'GOODNIGHT GRACIE'- STATE WASTES ANOTHER $2 MILLION

Assembly Budget Committee member Declan O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande said today’s news that the state is writing off a $2 million loan it made for the production of a movie is exactly the type of waste and misuse of state funds that must be stamped out if the New Jersey is to get its fiscal house in order.

“At a time when New Jersey has been struggling to balance its budget from year-to-year, there was simply no excuse for us to provide $2 million in loans to a movie production,” said O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth and Mercer. “How many times do we see examples of waste that get written off as a ‘small’ loss for the taxpayers? It is time for state leaders to recognize that this waste adds up and is playing a major role in our current budget problems.”

The Star-Ledger today reported that at their regular meeting today, members of the state Economic Development Authority wrote off $2 million in loans and loan guarantees they had extended four years ago to help bankroll production of “Gracie.” The movie has apparently not generated enough revenue to cover the loans.

O’Scanlon and Casagrande said that too often state leaders dismiss examples of waste such as this $2 million loss as being a small part of the state’s $33 billion budget, but noted that when all of these items are put together they add up to billions in wasted taxpayer dollars.

“This is about priorities and clearly in recent years the state has had the wrong priorities when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars,” said Casagrande, R-Monmouth and Mercer. “At a time when property taxes are soaring, middle class families are struggling to afford their homes and jobs are leaving this state, this would be an example of a bad investment of taxpayer dollars. It’s exactly this kind of expenditure that makes it so frustrating when you hear Trenton say that the budgets have been cut to the bone.  There is still plenty of fat that needs to be trimmed from New Jersey budgets.”

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