Governor Jon Corzine

How Much Road Maintenance Would Be Cut, How High Would Tolls Be Raised?

Senator Sean T. Kean questioned whether Governor Corzine has a new plan to lease New Jersey toll roads to a foreign business. Just hours after the New York Times reported that Governor Jon Corzine discussed in an interview reviving his massively unpopular plan to sell the New Jersey Turnpike and raise tolls by 800%, a spokesman for the Governor quickly claimed that the Governor was actually referring to a toll road in Indiana. When discussing monetization, the Times quoted Corzine as saying, “This idea worked.”

“Governor Corzine’s comments to the New York Times seem pretty clear, I don’t see any mention of Indiana,” said Kean. “In either case, if the Governor has a new secret plan to lease the New Jersey Turnpike to a foreign operator, he should disclose the plan immediately.”

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Senator Gerald Cardinale, a Republican on the State House Commission, said that Governor Corzine has opened the door to corruption with his plan to sell the Camden State Prison property under a no-bid contract.

"New Jersey Pays Goldman Sachs for Swaps on Nonexistent Bonds"

Headline of a Bloomberg News article Published on Oct. 23

Four Republican senators held a news conference today to express their growing unease at the failure of Governor Jon Corzine to honestly address plunging tax collections.

The state treasurer said today that revenues have come in 3.1 percent below projections so far this year. If collections continue at that pace, the state will have a $1 billion deficit this year. The estimated budget deficit for next year is $8 billion to $10 billion. The governor is again doing too little. too late, then calling himself a man of action.

Senator Steve Oroho, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, said that given the news that New York state faces a growing fiscal crisis, it is alarming that Governor Jon Corzine stubbornly refuses to regularly update revenue collection numbers for New Jersey, as other governors have done in the past.

Senate Budget Committee member Steve Oroho, R-Sussex and Hunterdon, said it's disgraceful that the Corzine administration approved a grant of $12 million today under the so-called Special Municipal Aid program without producing the performance audits required by law.

No neighboring state is suffering as much in this recession as New Jersey. There are no excuses that Governor Corzine can give that will make New Jersey feel better about the suffering of so many of our friends and neighbors.

Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean said Governor Corzine’s published comments on school aid in today’s Star-Ledger are worrisome. The Governor thinks he can save $500 million by not providing enough money in the 2010-2011 budget to meet the school funding formula, the newspaper said. In the current year, Governor Corzine underfinanced the school funding formula by $300 million.

“Governor Corzine made promises on school funding to the citizens of New Jersey and the New Jersey Supreme Court that he has not kept,” said Kean. “The lack of state aid will translate into school property tax increases across most of New Jersey.”

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Local Finance Board Giving Special Aid to Newark Next Wednesday without Accountability

In response to a meeting of the Local Finance Board scheduled for next Wednesday to give an unknown amount of money to Newark, Senate Budget Committee member Joe Pennacchio (R-Morris) is calling on Governor Corzine to release a long overdue Special Municipal Aid Audit of that city following last year’s special aid award of $45 million.

“The State Budget requires an audit of Newark and Governor Corzine has yet to release it to the public that paid for it, ” said Pennacchio. “It’s embarrassing. Governor Corzine will be throwing more money at this problem without finding out how the last $45 million was spent.”

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