Senator Gerald Cardinale speaking during the Senate session on June 25, 2009 in opposition to Governor Corzine’s 2010 budget which eliminates property tax rebates for 1.2 million New Jersey families, while raising taxes by more than $2 billion.
Senator Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen, said the state Health Department should stop playing politics, help consumers and boost the economy by letting Hackensack University Medical Center re-open Pascack Valley Hospital.
“The most vocal opponents of Pascack Valley are well-paid executives of hospitals that don’t want a competitor cutting into their profits,” Cardinale said. “Consumers know competition is the best way to improve quality and lower the cost of health care in their communities.”
Senator Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen, urged a halt to the demolition of the Riverfront State Prison, New Jersey’s most modern correctional facility, until Camden County has come up with a strategy for dealing with the severe overcrowding of its jail.
“I learned on Thursday that the Camden County has approximately 1,100 people confined in a jail designed for 400 inmates,” Senator Cardinale said. “Clearly, it is simply wrong for the advocates of demolition to argue that this prison’s cells are unneeded.”
Senator Gerald Cardinale, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced today that he would oppose any effort to weaken the drug-free school zones law.
“It is clear that children need more rigorous protection against the predators that turn school yards into open air drug markets,” Cardinale stated. “Weakening the laws that protect students would send the wrong message to the students, educators and the community at large.
John Lynch Apparently Didn’t Tell All He Knew at Halfway House
Senator Gerald Cardinale, senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he was appalled, but not surprised that lame-duck Governor Jon Corzine’s nominee for a seat on the New Jersey Sports Authority didn’t bother to prepare for serious questions during his confirmation hearing. Cardinale said he was just as shocked by reports that the candidate, Middlesex County Sheriff Joseph Spicuzzo, admitted he sought advice on his confirmation from a convicted felon, former Democrat Senator John Lynch.
“Questioning at this confirmation hearing turned up that the nominee hadn’t bothered to research the Sports Authority’s budget or how many people it employs,” Cardinale said. “These were not the responses that I expect from a person charged with monitoring a multi-million dollar budget and one of the nation’s premier sports venues.”
Senator Gerald Cardinale, a Republican on the State House Commission, said that Governor Corzine has opened the door to corruption with his plan to sell the Camden State Prison property under a no-bid contract. The State House Commission voted to approve an opaque process of the kind that has failed taxpayers repeatedly in the past with such projects as the disastrous EnCap development and the bungled Xanadu project. Only commission members Senator Cardinale and Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon voted against the governor’s wrong-headed plan.
“The governor has opened the door to corruption by refusing to let the sale of the prison property be conducted by public auction,” Senator Cardinale said. “That he would even think that a no-bid contract is appropriate in this prison sale makes it clear he’s learned nothing from the conviction of so many political bosses and elected officials over the last eight years.”
Senator Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen) issued the following statement regarding published reports that a deal brokered by Jon Corzine between the Prudential Center and the Izod Center is imminent. The deal would allow the New Jersey Nets to void their contract with the Izod Center to facilitate a move to the Prudential Center without incurring the negotiated $7.5 million penalty for vacating the lease early.
$8 Million Penalty for Breaking Long-Term Lease Should Stand
Senator Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen) issued the following statement regarding a report published in the Star-Ledger indicating that the New Jersey Nets are considering a move to the Prudential Center in Newark. The team currently plays at the Izod Center in the Meadowlands. In order to move to Newark, the Nets would require the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) to forgive an $8 million penalty for breaking its lease.
“It would be disturbing if Governor Corzine considers allowing the Nets to move from the Meadowlands to Newark without fulfilling its contractual obligation to the Izod Center. The Nets signed the contract with the Izod Center and should be held to the terms of that contract.
Corzine Administration Doling Out Aid Arbitrarily
Senator Gerry Cardinale (R-Bergen) called on Governor Corzine to appoint a nonpartisan special investigator to review the State’s Extraordinary Aid Program. The stated purpose of the Extraordinary Aid Program, run by the Department of Community Affairs (DCA), is to allow municipalities experiencing extraordinary financial problems not of their own making to compete for approximately $25 million in discretionary grants to mitigate property tax increases.
In response to a complaint filed last week by the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct against Judge Steven Perskie, of Atlantic County, Senators Gerry Cardinale (R-Bergen) and Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) voiced concern with the vetting process of judicial nominees and the lack of time allotted to fully review each candidate. The process must be reformed so that the committee has enough time and resources to fully review a candidate the Senators commented.
Hearing Can’t Mask Absence of Leadership and Competence That Has Left 300,000 New Jerseyans Without Health Insurance
Senators Gerald Cardinale and Joe Kyrillos, Republicans on the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee, said the committee’s ”upbeat” hearing on electronic medical records appears to have been orchestrated to mask the Corzine administration’s dismal record on health care policy. The senators pointed out that 300,000 fewer people in New Jersey have health insurance than when the Democrats led by Corzine assumed power in 2002.
In contrast, the number of uninsured fell in New York State during the same period. They also noted with frustration that Corzine has put $40 million in matching stimulus funds at risk by moving agonizingly slowly to implement plans for switching to electronic records in New Jersey.
