BUONO ANNOUNCES OCTOBER BUDGET COMMITTEE HEARING ON NJ ECONOMY

Meeting Will Focus on Economic Issues Surrounding the National Recession, Wall Street Crisis

TRENTON – Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairwoman, Senator Barbara Buono, announced today that the panel will meet on October 6 to hold a hearing on New Jersey’s economy, including the impact that the national recession and recent problems on Wall Street have had on the State's revenues and investments.

“It’s no secret that the economy – from the national level down to the State and local levels – is in trouble,” said Senator Buono, D-Middlesex. “The price of oil is up, the joblessness rate continues to climb and the poor state of the economy weighs heavily on the public. We need to hear from leading economic voices to give State residents an idea of how much longer they’re going to need to weather the current economic crisis – and what New Jersey can do to help get them through the storm.”

Senator Buono noted that the turmoil on Wall Street over the last ten days has punctuated Garden State residents’ growing fear about the faltering economy. She added that the credit industry crisis which has played out on stock tickers and on the Dow Jones Index this week has serious ramifications for State residents.

“New Jersey’s economy is heavily dependent on the stock market,” said Senator Buono. “We have billions of public and private dollars invested in the stock market, and thousands of State residents make their living on the Stock Exchange and related industries. What happens on Wall Street has an effect on Main Street, and people need to be reassured that we’re trying to be as informed and prepared as possible as we navigate through this latest crisis.”

The hearing will take place in Committee Room 4 of the Statehouse Annex at 1:00 PM on Monday, October 6.