Kean, Allen: “Democrat Cuts to DCF, Abused Children, Substance Abuse Programs, are the Height of Hypocrisy”

June 28, 2012

Contact: Senate Republican Office / (609) 847-3600
Senator Diane Allen, Senator Tom Kean

Kean, Allen: “Democrat Cuts to DCF, Abused Children, Substance Abuse Programs, are the Height of Hypocrisy”

Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean, Jr. and Deputy Republican Leader Diane Allen expressed outrage that spending adjustments made by Democratic leadership to assure passage of their FY 2013 budget were paid for with reductions to safety net programs for at-risk children and adults.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Democratic Majority’s budget takes millions of dollars from programs for children who have been abused or are struggling with emotional disorders, substance abuse treatment for adults, and welfare to work, and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.

“The Democratic Majority has spent the last two and a half years accusing Republican legislators and Governor Christie of being mean-spirited, heartless partisans for making reductions to the state budget in order to put New Jersey back on a path to fiscal stability,” said Kean (R- Union), “but it appears their outrage only boils over when it suits their political interests. These cuts, made in order to spend money elsewhere and cobble together enough votes for passage, are as cynical as they are hypocritical.”

“When it came to funding their own political priorities, the Majority had no problem in using dollars from the very same programs they criticized others for cutting,” Allen (R- Burlington) added. “These are needless reductions to worthwhile programs that help abused and at-risk children, families, those struggling with addiction, and the working poor. This didn’t have to happen.”

Kean and Allen urged the Governor to use all avenues available to reverse the spending revisions and restore the money in question to its original sources.