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BY TOM HESTER SR.
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
The leaders of the Democratic-controlled New Jersey Assembly and Senate Tuesday were quick to charge Gov. Chris Christie’s proposed $29.3 billion 2010-11 state budget is a tax hike on middle- and lower-income residents.
They also criticized him for his plans to eliminate tax rebates in the proposed budget and avoid a $3 billion contribution to the public employee pension systems and for cutting state aid to schools and local government, an action Christie said will increase property tax per household by an average $250.
The Democrats said they intend to make their own budget cuts and warned they will not blindly follow the governor’s proposed initiatives.
“This is a tough budget during difficult times, but we always must be careful about consequences,’’ Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver (D-Essex) said following Christie address. “The Assembly will significantly cut spending and consider the governor’s initiatives, but we cannot blindly move ahead without examining the impacts on working class New Jerseyans, senior citizens, children and those less fortunate.Oliver said Christie’s plan to cut back the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit is, in her opinion, a tax increase for the working poor.
“Initiatives that sound nice will need to be examined closely to see if they’re actually workable, and cuts that prompt higher property taxes, lead to more uninsured and unemployed and risk quality education send the wrong message to hard-working New Jerseyans,’’ Oliver said. “We will now begin our constitutional obligation to review this budget and its tax proposals line-by-line. I look forward to a serious, open debate highlighted by cooperation by all involved to reach the best conclusion possible.”
Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney (D-Gloucester) described the budget as painful.
“Ever since his election, the governor has been prepping New Jerseyans for a budget that would be painful and chock full of bad news,’’ Sweeney said. “Today, he certainly didn’t disappoint. Cutting education and property tax rebates will make the sting of New Jersey’s highest-in-the-nation property taxes even worse. Cutting the earned income tax credit – a program championed by Ronald Reagan as ‘the best pro-family, the best job creation measure’ – will hurt low-income working families.
“It certainly will be interesting to see the Governor’s Republican colleagues fall over themselves to heap praise on a proposal that guts middle-class property tax relief, raises college tuition and diverts trust fund money,’’ Sweeney added. “Those shoes must feel strange now that they’re on different feet.’’
Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen), chairman of the upper house’s Budget and Appropriations Committee, said “The governor has certainly given the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee plenty to chew on over the next eight weeks. Budget cuts – especially deep, painful cuts like these – are supposed to move us toward the goal of a smaller, more efficient, more effective state government. All this budget appears to move us toward is higher property taxes on middle-class families and seniors, higher college tuition, higher taxes for low-income working families and lower taxes for the rich. This budget creates more questions than it does answers.’’
Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Morris) described Christie’ budget as historic.
“Governor Christie is ready to deal with the financial challenges his predecessors have avoided much too long,” DeCroce said. “The governor has given taxpayers a blueprint for both short-term and long-term reforms that we have needed for quite some time. The fiscal catastrophe he inherited was created by years of reckless spending and borrowing that had no limits. We finally have a governor who has a different answer. Taxpayers want change the governor is delivering on what he promised.’’
Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan (D-Union) was not as tactful in his remarks as Oliver.
“What ever happened to Governor Christie fixing New Jersey?’’ he said. “Governor Christie‘s tax-increase budget proposal breaks so many of his promises that it must be some sort of record.
“Gov. Christie promised income tax cuts for everyone in his first year, yet only the rich benefit,’’ Cryan said. “Governor Christie is actually proposing what would essentially be the largest property tax increase in state history. The Democratic Legislature will once again cut spending, but we will also be reviewing this plan thoroughly, as is our constitutional duty, in the weeks ahead.’’
Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D-Camden), the lower house Budget Committee chairman, criticized Christie for eliminating property tax rebates for the 2010-11 fiscal year and for the cuts in school and municipal aid.
“Promising not to raise taxes, then proposing a budget that will bring property tax increases and other new taxes, does nothing more than burden the middle-class and expose the poor already struggling to make ends meet,’’ he said. “Failing to responsibly fund the pension system he promised to fix does nothing but exacerbate its problems.’’
Greenwald said Christie’s plan to cap property tax increases at 2.5 percent would be examined by his committee but added “… it does nothing to help local governments and schools get off the need to rely on property taxes.
“For local governments, schools and the state, cutting spending is clearly in order, and the Assembly Budget Committee will once again lead that charge,’’ Greenwald said. “But I also would like to see everyone – especially Governor Christie – start focusing on finding ways to finally get off the horrible addiction to property taxes at the local level.”
Assembly Republican Budget Officer Joe Malone (R-Burlington) said, “Governor Christie is doing exactly what the people of New Jersey expect from their leader. He is being truthful with them about the state’s financial catastrophe and addressing them in an honest straightforward fashion without the gimmicks, tax increases and endless borrowing of the past that have jeopardized New Jersey’s future.’’
Malone argued Christie is “placing New Jersey on a steadier course’’ by attempting to streamline state government to make it efficient and affordable while “creating the tools’’ for local governments to follow his example.
“The people of New Jersey should be reassured that they – not deep-pocketed special interests such as public workers unions – will once again be the priority in Trenton,” Malone said.
Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) said he is pleased to see Christie adopt what he described as the Democratic plan to turn property tax rebates into direct property tax relief credits.
“I’ve been working on this plan for several years and its never had more momentum,'' Burzichelli said, But Governor Christie is taking the wrong approach. The simple fact is that under Governor Christie’s plan, senior citizens and the disabled who received property tax relief last year will not receive any relief this year, and once they get it in 2011 it will be slashed. “Lost relief equals a property tax increase…’’
Assemblyman Patrick J. Diegnan (D-Middlesex), chairman of the lower house‘s Education Committee, said Christie’s plan to cut $819 million in state school aid “jeopardizes the quality of education to 1.5 million children in our state while raising property taxes during these difficult economic times.
“Make no mistake,’’ Diegnan said, “the pain will be felt in virtually every classroom.’’
Assemblywoman Pamela R. Lampitt (D-Camden), chairman of the Higher Education Committee, criticized Christie for his plan to cut $170 million in state aid to state and county colleges and eliminate all aid to private colleges. She said the cuts could be expected to spark tuition increases.
“We’ve heard quite a bit from Governor Christie about his commitment to higher education, yet today he pulled the rug out from under higher ed,’’ Lampitt said.
“Governor Christie’s budget contains not just cuts to institutions of higher education, but global cuts to programs – like tuition aid grants and the Educational Opportunity Fund – that hit all sectors, putting he financial burden directly on middle class families and removing the prospect of a college education for thousands of New Jersey students.''
