After discussing the budget at a meeting with State Treasurer David Rousseau and two officials from the Office of Management and Budget, Gov.-Elect Christopher Christie said his reaction was a "rueful chuckle." 

And at a press conference today talking about that meeting, the faces of Christie and his two top budget advisors, Richard Bagger and Robert Grady - who were also present at the meeting -- were dour. 

That $8 billion structural deficit we've been talking about for 2011?  If things remain the way they are and infusions like the one that came from the federal stimulus for the 2010 budget are not repeated, the men said, that's "the low end of the range."  Moreover, the revenue projections for the 2010 budget, which were about $190 million short in the first quarter, are set to continue to come in below projections, while there are expected to be supplemental needs in agencies that will increase spending. 

"If you add together the fact that revenues are continuing to come in light and there are supplemental needs, it's clear that we will have a problem in Fiscal 2010 that will need to be addressed," said Grady to a room packed shoulder-to-shoulder with a few dozen reporters and cameramen. 

Christie and his advisors did not give details about how they planned to solve the problem, but said they will deliver a letter to Gov. Jon Corzine today about it and said they would undertake four steps:

Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie today launched a new radio ad in which the former U.S. Attorney objects to State Treasurer David Rousseau’s assertion to the Assembly Budget Committee that New Jerseyans are not overtaxed.

The 60-second ad begins with Assemblyman Joe Malone (R-Bordentown) asking Rousseau if he believes residents are overtaxed, the treasurer replying no, and Christie’s voice coming in to provide resolution to the conflict.  

Senator Joseph Pennacchio, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee said this after hearing State Treasurer David Rousseau testify that the Corzine administration has “finally brought property taxes under control.”

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Senator Joseph Pennacchio, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement after the committee chair denied him his right to question the state Treasurer about why he has refused to provide a full accounting of the state’s disastrous losses on an ill-advised investment in now-bankrupt Lehman Brothers:

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It's obvious that the treasurer's election-year attempt to discredit Republicans was crude and inappropriate. What may not be obvious to some is that the treasurer's statement is demonstrably false.

Two weeks ago, Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie predicted that Governor Jon Corzine would blame New Jersey’s economic woes on the global economic crisis.  "The governor's going to say, 'It's not my fault, it's not my fault, it's the global economic crisis's fault,” the former U.S. Attorney said.

Christie was close.  Corzine never called the crisis global; in his budget address he mentioned the “national economic crisis.” 

But the “global economic crisis” catch phrase is already getting plenty of play.  One press release put out by the Assembly Democratic office last week used the words “global economic crisis “five times.  Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing), in a statement issued yesterday, said: “The Governor should be commended for proposing a bold plan to help stave off this global economic crisis.”  Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden), Assemblyman Jack Conners (D-Pennsauken), and State Treasurer David Rousseau all used the “global economic crisis” terminology.

Republican budget officers urge Corzine to expedite release of January revenue figures so that the public can play a significant role in how the budget crisis is solved.

If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't.
-- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

MEDIA ADVISORY - SENATE BUDGET COMMITTEE TO RECEIVE REVISED REVENUE ESTIMATES TUESDAY

TRENTON – On Tuesday, May 13, the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee is scheduled to hear testimony from State Treasurer David Rousseau and the Office of Legislative Services concerning revised revenue estimates for the FY 2008 and FY 2009 State Budgets.

According to Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Barbara Buono, D-Middlesex, State revenue is mostly comprised of three major taxes – the State income tax, sales tax and corporation business tax. Each Spring, the Budget Committee conducts hearings to review different facets of the Governor’s fiscal year spending plan, and the impact of the budget on individual State departments. The culmination of those review hearings is a revised revenue presentation by the Treasurer and legislative budget analysts in May, based on information provided by tax collections in April.

ROBERTS STATEMENT ON NOMINATION
OF DAVID ROUSSEAU TO BE NEW STATE TREASURER

"David Rousseau is one of Trenton's most experienced and most trusted hands in matters relating to state government and finances."