MONMOUTH STATE LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION ISSUES STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO BIDEN PRAISE OF CORZINE

The Monmouth County Legislative delegation has issued the following statement in response to the claim made by Vice President Joseph Biden concerning Gov. Corzine’s jobs record:

“As representatives of Monmouth County, we have seen job losses and financial woes increase dramatically over the past four years, and it’s impossible to see any real strides the Corzine administration has made towards remedying the situation.

Unemployment has soared from 7.3% to 9.7% in eight months, while states like New York are beginning to see a small recovery in its unemployment numbers. New Jersey’s recent employment data shows that we will end the decade with 77,000 fewer jobs than we had at the beginning. A net loss of jobs has not taken place in New Jersey since the Great Depression.

In 2008, New Jersey saw 1,067 businesses filing for bankruptcy, compared to 1,849 in New York. These numbers become staggering when one takes into account the fact that New Jersey’s population is less than one-half of New York’s.

As New Jersey continues to lose jobs, it loses population and its real estate market suffers. Once again New Jersey has been rated 50^th in business-friendliness in the country. Using a one-time shot of federal stimulus money to save a few State jobs, as Corzine has done, will not work.

New Jersey continues to lose jobs, and this is just one of many economic indicators that clearly show the State’s fiscal woes began long before last year’s national problems.

Currently, New Jersey is ranked the 11^th highest in foreclosures in the country, and foreclosure activity rose 28.4 % from August 2008, compared to an 18 % nationally over the same time period. There are an estimated 49,144 properties in foreclosure in this State, and in Monmouth County foreclosure properties account for one in every 500 homes.

Monmouth County ranks seventh in New Jersey for the highest number of foreclosures, with over 3,000 homes currently in foreclosure.

Although Corzine himself admits that increasing taxes during a recession will only make matters worse, his decisions to increase sales tax and the cost of tolls coincided with the recession that began in New Jersey in 2007.

Property taxes are soaring, businesses are moving out of state or simply closing, unemployment is rising, foreclosures are increasing. New Jersey is in trouble, and it’s time we changed direction.”

The Monmouth Legislative Delegation consists of Senator Sean Kean, Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini, and Assemblyman David Rible-District 11; Senator Jennifer Beck, Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande and Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon- District 12; and Senator Joseph Kyrillos, Assemblywoman Amy Handlin and Assemblyman Sam Thompson- District 13.

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