KARROW CALLS FOR ACTION ON BUDGET TRANSPARENCY RESOLUTION AMID TESTIMONY, REPORTS OF SECRET GRANT AND SLUSH FUND DEALS

Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow today called for quick action on a concurrent resolution she sponsored that would require comprehensive transparency in the budget process following damaging testimony last week in the trial of a former state Senator that a state grant program was a political pork slush fund for certain Democrat lawmakers and recent published reports that powerful Democrat leaders, for the past four years, secretly channeled millions of dollars in special grants to the Rutgers University football and athletics program.

“Transparency and accountability have long been missing in the state budget process allowing hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to be used annually as a personal checking account for favorite legislators’ family and friends,” said Karrow, R-Warren and Hunterdon. “Action on this resolution is more timely than ever and I urge Democrat lawmakers, from Governor Corzine down, to join with Republicans in putting an end to this flagrant abuse of taxpayer money.”

Karrow has proposed concurrent resolution, ACR-92, that would require legislators to submit in writing, 14 calendar days before the budget committee may consider passage of an annual appropriations bill, any and all revisions to the governor’s proposed budget, including reasons/use for the request. The resolution would also require that budget committee members vote on every request/modification and that the requests and reasons for such be made available to the public through the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services (OLS).

“For far too long Democrats have danced around the pork barrel spending issue,” stated Karrow. “It’s apparent there is no transparency in our budget process despite Democrats’ current claims to the contrary. Testimony coming out of the Bryant trial and the reports of grant monies being secretly funneled to Rutgers as recently as this budget, is proof the Democrat’s rhetoric is nothing but lip service.

“This state will never get its financial house in order if it continues to operate under a shroud of secrecy,” she continued. “Late night, back door budget deals need to be banned at the State House. We are supposed to be conducting the people’s business, not monkey business.”

On Monday state Treasurer David Rousseau testified in the federal corruption trial of former state Senator Wayne Bryant, D-Camden, that as acting governor and Senate president, state Senator Richard Codey, D-Essex, controlled $12 million of the $40 million Property Tax Assistance and Community Development Grants program while Bryant and then-Senate Majority Leader Bernard Kenny, D-Hudson, had authority over $4 million each, doling out the funds to individual lawmakers for pet  projects as the three powerful Democrats saw fit. Last week, Senate Democrat Budget Officer George LeBlanc gave similar testimony.

For the past four years, Assembly Republicans have filed numerous requests for information on the grant program under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) only to be stonewalled by Democrat legislative leaders and officials.

In late September, The Star Ledger reported that “unidentified” lawmakers tacked $500,000 onto the state budget each year for the past fours years without public input or scrutiny. The funds were included in budgets signed by then-Governor Codey and Governor Corzine. In the article, Codey claimed he not only knew about the budget earmarks, but also fully supported them. He is quoted as saying, “As long as the football team does well, it’s a great investment....”

“According to Senator Codey the ends justify the means. That’s a heck of a way to run state government,” said Karrow. “We have hard-working middle class families out there struggling to make their mortgage payments and put gas in their cars while Democrat lawmakers broker deals for their families and clients’ pet projects and secretly funnel millions of taxpayer dollars into a football program. The fact that they don’t see anything wrong with that is a big part of the problem.

“Our budget process needs to be as transparent as a piece of glass,” she added. “The people of this state have every right to know what Trenton politicians are doing with their money right down to the penny. This resolution will slam the door shut on those last minute, late night deals.”

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