IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ...
CORZINE RETREATS IN WAR ON DEBT
Editorial, The Gloucester County Times
July 27, 2007

The bully pulpit to which Gov. Jon Corzine lays claim over the state's crushing debt was inexplicably contradicted by Corzine's signature Thursday on legislation. It commits the state to borrow $450 million to fund stem cell research for 10 years, if voters approve this fall.

Though it would be cruel to tag all state support for this medical research as a luxury, it is just too much money, for too long a time, for a pursuit that may well see sharp increases in federal resources once President Bush with his unalterable opposition to expanding embryonic stem cell research leaves office in early 2009.

Along with the likely OK for a measure to borrow another $200 million to replenish state open space funds, New Jersey will ask voters to borrow $650 million this fall. No matter how worthy the cause, the "borrow" portion of it never makes it into glowing rhetoric about what the money will be used for.

According to the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services, New Jerseyans will add $37 million to the state's annual debt tally if they OK the stem cell measure, and $15.3 million if they approve the open space one. That's more than $52 million annually. This number will likely be buried in the fine print of a ballot question, if it appears at all.

With figures like $58 billion, originally reported in the New York Times, as the state's shortfall to pay for previously granted lifetime health benefits for its retirees, it's no wonder Corzine goes around the state warning of the greater fiscal pain that will be inflicted if underfunded health care and pension liabilities aren't addressed. And, he's the first governor in about 15 years to take steps to reverse the trend.

But, nowhere in a three-page press release from Corzine's office about signing the stem cell bond act is an indication of how the state will pay all this money back, given all of the state's other demands. Nowhere is any attempt to offset the cost with, say, $37 million a year in ongoing state spending cuts.

Instead, the bond funds is are portrayed as a "landmark economic investment that will create new jobs and spur new business ventures while bringing the potential of life-saving treatments and cures to millions ..." Well, maybe on both counts, but $450 million plus interest is a lot to throw at "potential" given New Jersey's financial condition.

With its large medical employment base, perhaps New Jersey cannot sit out the stem cell funding race entirely. But there's no message of moderation here. Voters this fall should be aware of how much a 10-year funding cycle, with no guarantee of curing any disease, would cost them. That should not get lost in the fine print.  # # # # #