budget

It's one thing to make concessions to public employee unions to win long-term benefits for New Jersey. It's quite another to do so to avoid one day of bad publicity for the governor. Taxpayers should be told today how much it cost them to get Joe Biden to speak at Governor Corzine's political rally.

Senate Republican Whip Kevin O'Toole, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, said that Governor Corzine's huge, proposed income tax increases will kill jobs in New Jersey, even if they are "temporary' measures, as the governor claims.

GREENWALD: GOP RHETORIC A DAY LATE AND $383 MILLION SHORT

TRENTON) - Assembly Budget Chairman Louis D. Greenwald (D-Camden) released the following statement today on Assembly approval of legislation he's sponsoring (A-3981) to help save the state $383 million amid the global economic recession:

"For a group that says it doesn't have the ability to put together a budget plan, the Republicans sure seem to have more than enough time on their hands to work on their political posturing, write press releases and think up creative new ways to misrepresent legislation and scare residents."

The Governor simply refuses to match his actions to his rhetoric and stop perpetuating the myth that New Jersey can maintain a level of government far in excess of what it needs and can afford. 

Urges End to Wall Street Games That Destroyed Our Economy

Senate Republican Budget Officer Anthony R. Bucco strongly condemned the Joint Budget Oversight Committee's approval of a debt restructuring gimmick that Governor Corzine plans to use to push more of today's crippling debt burden on to our children and grandchildren.

"The 'savings' that the treasurer is predicting from this debt sale are an illusion cooked up by desperate politicians and their enablers on Wall Street," Bucco said. "The proposal clearly proves Governor Corzine and legislative Democrats will continue to rely on unforgivably irresponsible gimmicks like many others that Wall Street has hawked to New Jersey over the past eight years."

The Joint Budget Oversight Committee today approved a restructuring of bonded debt whereby the state will skip more than $100 million in payments in 2010 in return for higher debt and dramatically higher payments in future years. Corzine's budget relies on this plan and "savings" totaling more than $400 million from similar bond gimmicks that it has thus far refused to detail to the public.

"Everyone in America has learned the painful lessons of irresponsible borrowing it seems except Governor Corzine and the legislative Democrats," Bucco said. "This is the same kind of borrowing that led to the subprime mortgage disaster and the current economic crisis."

Incredibly, Assembly Budget Chairman Lou Greenwald stated at today's meeting that Corzine's refinancing is exactly what average Americans all across the country are doing every day. Bucco points out that many Americans are refinancing at lower interest rates to truly reduce their payments and borrowing costs -- not to add debt, push today's expenses on to their children or boost their interest costs. Yet the bond documents show this refinancing will both greatly increase both debt owed by the state, and the expense of paying back that debt.

"Adding to the crippling debt we are placing on our children is inexcusable, and that's why I voted against this measure," Bucco said.

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Governor Corzine keeps sticking his fingers in the dike as new leaks in the state's revenue stream develop daily. It's clear now that he's running out of fingers, Senator Bucco said.

Given the state's $1.2 billion deficit, Senate Republican Budget Member Marcia Karrow (R-Hunterdon and Warren) is reminding Governor Corzine of five budget savings ideas offered by Republicans over the last few years.

Breakdown in Leadership Will Mean Lost Jobs and Services

Every day, the news is filled with reports of a growing crisis. It seems as if no one in the administration has a clear plan for dealing with the problem. The longer we put off tough decisions, the harder they will become.

New Jersey seems headed for the first end-of-year deficit in state history. With just eight weeks remaining in fiscal 2009, state revenues are running a gut-wrenching $1.2 billion below Governor Corzine's projections, and the governor's lack of transparency is adding to the crisis.