Senator Barbara Buono

EDISON – Senator Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) announced today that she will host a roundtable conference with New Jersey’s non-profit organizations to identify ways to work with the State to help increase efficiency and maintain their vital services during the economic recession.

“New Jersey’s non-profit organizations have been particularly hard hit by the recession,” Senator Buono said. “While they are facing the same declining revenue streams as the rest of our State, they are also experiencing a dramatic increase in demand for their services.”

EDISON – Senator Barbara Buono, D-Middlesex, the Chairwoman of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee and sponsor of the state’s new school funding formula, issued the following statement on today’s ruling by the Supreme Court of New Jersey:

“I’m pleased the Supreme Court recognized the extraordinarily hard work the legislative and executive branches did in crafting a fair and just school funding formula. The Court saw no reason to, in its own words, ‘second-guess’ the decision-making process of the Legislature and the Governor. By articulating that the policy choices we made are legitimately the Legislature’s domain, this ruling allows us to move forward and equitably administer our precious state resources free of the micro-management of the courts.

“Our responsibility to give every child access to a quality education is not just a requirement imposed on us by the state Constitution – it is a moral imperative. New Jersey has recognized the challenges of meeting that imperative in a state with a wide diversity of socio-economic conditions. It has struggled for decades to find the best way to do so efficiently and effectively. Today’s decision by the high court shows we have written a school funding law that satisfies our constitutional requirements and gives all our children the resources they need to succeed.”

“The unanimous decision today by the New Jersey Supreme Court validates our effort to ensure that all children are provided with the resources they need to get the best possible start in life. That means access to the ‘thorough and efficient’ education system our New Jersey Constitution guarantees; it is a promise our state makes to every child, regardless of where they live or their personal circumstances. The law we enacted to keep that promise has now been found constitutional.

“The funding formula we adopted will enable us to sustain our commitment to a quality education for every child even as the state struggles to make its way through a devastating national recession. Our commitment to education, embodied in the School Funding Reform Act, will provide greater help to those struggling school districts that for years received no increase in state school aid, even as it maintains our obligation to the children fighting for a chance at a better life in the state’s poorest school systems.

“The new school funding formula recognizes that in addition to the children living in the 31 so-called ‘Abbott’ districts, there is a universe of low-income students among the other school districts. In fact, nearly half of the low-income, special needs children in the state live in districts other than the Abbott districts. We enacted a school funding law that takes this into account and ensures the money the state provides for education finds its way to the students who need it, regardless of where they live. It also provides greater support for special education programs, which can be especially costly to school districts.”

TRENTON – Senator Barbara Buono, D-Middlesex, and Chairwoman of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the Senate’s approval today of a bill to amend the FY 2009 Budget to help offset a massive shortfall in revenues caused by the national recession.  The bill, S-15, was approved by a vote of 21-17:

             “The bill which was approved by the Senate today is only a piece of the puzzle in re-balancing the FY 2009 Budget and making up for lost revenues as a result of the national economic crisis.  While this bill represents a strong first step in responsible budgeting, we must be open to further cuts in order to maintain the essential services that New Jersey’s taxpayers have come to rely on.

TRENTON – Senator Barbara Buono today said Monday’s Senate hearing on the State’s investment policy should be focused on what strategies, moving forward, will protect pension fund members after record, multi-billion dollar losses this year.

            “There is deep concern and downright fear among workers and retirees alike,” said Senator Buono, the Chair of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. “To ease the fear, we need fact-based assurances that the money will be there for the pension fund members when they need it.”

TRENTON – Senator Barbara Buono today released the following statement regarding the signing of the “Public Employee Pension and Benefits Reform Act of 2008.”

            “I stand before you today in the midst of a Wall Street meltdown caused by freewheeling, profligate borrowing gone bad.  

            “The vote in Washington today on the $700 billion pledge of public money is said to be necessary in order to save and rebuild the nation’s financial system but the impact is already being felt on Main Street. 

TRENTON – Senator Barbara Buono, Chair of the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee, today said State officials should prepare budget contingency plans now to deal with the “inevitable downward revenue spiral” caused by the Wall Street credit crisis.

            “Like families trying to pay monthly bills, we have to stay within our means,” said Senator Buono, D-Middlesex. “To avoid panic later, we need to plan now.”

            TRENTON - Senator Barbara Buono, D-Middlesex and Chair of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, made the follow statement at today's signing ceremony of the Fiscal Year 2009 State Budget:

            "What we have achieved collectively through this process is remarkable. This budget represents "progress" in many ways and on many levels. 

            "By signing this budget we are giving back to the people of NJ a budget balanced on honest, sound financial principles.

            "Transparency, a much-touted concept these days can mean many things to different people.  In the context of the budget process it translated into hearings that were short on softball questions and where pat, non-responsive answers were not well received.  The result was a much more informative give-and-take and a budget that better reflects members' concerns. 

            "Both houses worked well together to iron out differences this year so that a consensus was reached a full week before the constitutional deadline of July 1st.

            "But the public shouldn't conclude from the relatively smooth sailing that this was an easy or painless process.

            "The budget wasn't balanced by relying on overly optimistic tax revenue projections for next year.  In fact, revenue projections for the first time in not so recent memory, were projected to be lower than the current years revenues.

            "The budget wasn't balanced by new taxes, or reckless borrowing schemes, relied upon in the past. 

            "We even short-circuited the one-shot gimmicks, like relying on lawsuit settlements or asset sales. Christmas tree add-ons are fast becoming an anachronism. These are relics of the past that should be relegated to the history books.

            "Instead, this budget was balanced by cuts.  Cuts that were painful and in some cases, downright repugnant.  But they were not indiscriminate and the legislature restored, where we could, some of the most onerous ones.  

            "In the process we kept the door open so poor and middle class students could attend our colleges and universities.  We expanded health care for working families.  We struggled to preserve programs that our communities have come to rely upon, programs that provide the support for people to help themselves have better, more productive lives.

            "We began to pay down our debt to reduce our enormous, credit card payments and in the process began to lift the burden this places on our children.

            "I feel fortunate to serve in my position at a time when we have a governor who is thoughtful and deliberate on fiscal matters.  Rather than resort to telling the people what he thinks they want to hear, he is refreshingly honest about our fiscal predicament.

            "The governor explains (sometimes in excruciating detail,) how we got here and what we need to do to dig our way out.  The picture he paints is not pretty.  But it is honest.

            "The governor has earned our respect by his willingness to be frank even in the face of criticism that this approach may not be the most politically expedient way of dealing with our fiscal problems.  

            "The Governor has set the bar high.   It is up to the Legislature to meet this challenge, by proposing bold solutions to problems that took decades to create.

            "There are those who caution that it is too risky to even explore meaningful solutions to some of our most vexing and systemic problems.  But to do nothing, to just continue along the well-worn path of fiscal irresponsibility, is nothing short of a failure of leadership, a forsaking of the oath of office we all took.

            "We can do better and we will.   No one ever promised that the choices we'd have to make as elected leaders would be easy, but we cannot afford to be complacent and to shirk responsibility.

            "This is the first step as we chart a course with an eye to a future where we pursue the twin goals of correcting past mistakes and crafting a budget that better reflects the values we hold dear."

TRENTON – Senator Barbara Buono, Chair of the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee, today said her top budget priorities are restoring cuts in state aid to municipalities, especially smaller towns hit hard by proposed reductions, and rejecting any bids to insert so-called “Christmas Tree Items” in

TRENTON – The Senate today approved legislation sponsored by Senators Barbara Buono and Nicholas Scutari that would better protect consumers under the State's "Lemon Law" for new car purchases by expanding coverage from 18,000 miles to 24,000 miles.

TRENTON – The Senate Commerce Committee today approved legislation sponsored by Senators Barbara Buono and Nicholas Scutari that would better protect consumers under the State’s “Lemon Law” for new car purchases by expanding coverage from 18,000 miles to 24,000 miles.