Phil Haines

The DEP commissioner has confirmed again that COAH's demands for affordable housing construction are based on sloppily collected and inaccurate data. When will the governor drop this job-killing COAH plan and create a plan for affordable housing that will work in any economy?

The six Republican members of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee said today's testimony shows Governor Corzine has created a breathtakingly irresponsible budget that will inevitably result in crippling tax increases on New Jersey's middle class if he wins re-election.

At their election night party in Mount Laurel, while Burlington County Democrats were ecstatically watching the best returns they've seen in recent memory roll in, local Democratic chairman Rick Perr followed newly minted Congressman-Elect John Adler's (D-Cherry Hill) victory speech with a joke that lent a sobering reminder to an otherwise heady atmosphere.

"Hey John, when does re-election start?" he said.

The answer: immediately. 

After losing a seat that their party held for 124 years, national Republicans have stressed to local party leaders that they should start fielding potential challengers to Adler as soon as possible.  Not that they needed to tell that to Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore and Burlington County Republican Chairman Bill Layton, who head up the GOP in the two counties that dominate the 3rd Congressional District (Camden County has one town, Cherry Hill, in the district).

Republican members of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee issued the following statement on S-2507, a bill that will cut state aid for school districts based on how much they save by not making full payments into the state pension fund for their non-teaching employees. The bill will be considered by the committee today:

"Republican members of the Budget and Appropriations Committee today reaffirm their unwavering opposition to Governor Corzine's scheme to deplete the pension funds," said Anthony Bucco, Republican Budget Officer. "I have asked the chairwoman to delay the committee's vote on this bill so that the pension provisions can be eliminated from this bill. If they aren't removed, we will vote against the bill."

"We owe it to taxpayers and retirees to seriously discuss alternatives to shortchanging the pensions. As written, this bill will ultimately cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and threaten the secure retirement promised to government employees," said Kevin O'Toole, Republican Senate Whip.

"It's long past time for Governor Corzine to stop kicking this state's fiscal problems down the road, and come up with common-sense solutions to New Jersey's budget problems," Senator Phil Haines said.

"This pension gimmick is the ultimate example of the irresponsible budget 'one shots' that the governor repeatedly promised not to support," said Senator Joseph Pennacchio.

"Governor Corzine has offered a false choice between shortchanging school kids or short-changing public employees when he should first cut the bloated budget for patronage hires to balance this budget."

"Years of gimmicks have created a disaster whereby only about 50 percent of the roughly $120 billion in state pension liability is covered today by the value of pension assets," Senator Steve Oroho said. "If the gimmicks don't stop, this system will go broke."

Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean and Republican members of the Senate Budget Committee Tony Bucco, Kevin O'Toole, Steve Oroho, and Phil Haines have filed a lawsuit against Governor Jon Corzine today at 9:15am. The Governor is violating the State's open public records law by refusing to provide documents that show what budgeted funds Corzine has frozen to address an at least $1.2 billion revenue drop and to pay for more than $100 million in spending bills he signed over the past month. State law appropriately grants the Governor the power to impound budgeted funds, and Corzine has claimed to be using the power, but refuses to say to what extent or to name the funds that will be impacted.

Corzine Continues to Stonewall and Hide Public Documents About Budget Deficit
 
Following the continued failure of Governor Jon S. Corzine to respond as required by law to a December 2, 2008 request for public records made pursuant to New Jersey's Open Public Records Act, Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean and Republican members of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee have announced their intention to file a lawsuit against the Governor to force the immediate release of requested documents.

Corzine Signs Spending Bills Despite $600 Million Deficit

State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) is a possible candidate for Congress against John Adler in 2010

If Republicans can't beat John Adler in 2010, chances are they never will.  If Adler wins a second term, watch for mapmakers to take take some heavily Republican Ocean County towns out of his district when new congressional districts are drawn for the 2012 elections.  Adler scored a 52%-48% victory last week over Republican Christopher Myers for the seat of retiring twelve term U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton -- a seat Democrats hadn't won since 1882.

Republican insiders say that Myers isn't likely to get a second shot at the seat, and that the favorite candidate could be former major league baseball pitcher Al Leiter.  Leiter, a Toms River native who has said he wants to run for office someday, has turned down several offers to seek U.S. Senate and House seats in recent years.  Other possible Adler opponents include: State Sen. Diane Allen (who must first heal wounds in a very fractured Burlington County Republican organization); State Sen. Phil Haines; Assemblywoman Dawn Addiego; Assemblyman Brian Rumpf; and Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly, who lost the '08 GOP primary to Myers.

   Senator Phil Haines, Assemblywoman Dawn Addiego and Assemblyman Scott Rudder said they are greatly concerned that the new toll hikes pushed through today by Governor Corzine and the Trenton Democrats will hurt the state’s fragile economy and force big trucks on to local roads.

            “In the last few days, people have seen their 401K’s drop to 201K’s. Now we’re going to put a driving tax on them?” asked Assemblyman Scott Rudder, a member of the Assembly Transportation Committee.

Senate Minority Leader Ton Kean, Jr. (R-Union), and Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon).: Politicker photo

State Sen. Thomas Kean, Jr., (R-Union) became minority leader just as a new band of hungry Republican legislators came up from the General Assembly to assume their Senate seats.

Another under 40 senator with statewide aspirations might send out at least back channel messages of panic in the face of a baseball roster's worth of new GOP talent.

And indeed there have been some nose-to-nose moments in the last few months since Kean made caucus boss, notably between the patrician leader and the headstrong state Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex).

But according to his colleagues, the stoic Kean has generally met the onrush by embracing it; and has assumed a statesmanlike stance while tapping the scrappy skills honed by his freshmen senators in the lower house.