Senator Kevin O’Toole, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement concerning the Fiscal Year 2010 budget:
“One of the first political lessons taught to me was – your constituents are your first concern. I have to ask myself does this budget serve my constituents. The answer is that the budget voted on by this body tonight does not, for several reasons.
Republican Senate Whip Kevin O’Toole, who served on the Joint Legislative Committee on Public Employee Benefits Reform in 2006, said he is appalled by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee’s decision to advance Senate Bill 2955. S-2955 governs some state workers who are being asked to defer salary increases to help balance the budget during a recession. The bill will base pension payouts in part on the wages that would have been paid had raises not been deferred. Senator O’Toole said he objects to the bill because it provides pension benefits without setting aside the resources necessary to make payments to retirees in the future.
All six Republicans on the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee rejected Governor Corzine’s election-year budget today because its reliance on one-shot revenue and gimmicks will create a fiscal crisis that pushes the state closer to insolvency.
American Journalists Reporting from China-North Korea Border Charged, Convicted and Sentenced to 12 Years of Hard Labor
Senator Kevin O’Toole (R-40) has written letters to officials of both the United States and China appealing for their assistance in ongoing efforts to obtain the release of a pair of American journalists who were arrested, convicted and sentenced by North Korea to 12 years of hard labor. The reporters, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were working on a story about the human trafficking of women across the China-North Korea border at the time of their arrest for committing what has only been described as a “grave crime” by the insular nation.
Senator Kevin O’Toole, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement regarding the terms of the Corzine Administration’s $2 billion line of credit:
Dozens of Choices the Governor Could Make to Create Jobs and Make New Jersey Affordable for the Middle Class
Republican members of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee have joined with their colleagues in the Assembly to prepare a blueprint for change that Governor Corzine can adopt to save taxpayers $783 million. These are ideas that will generate savings the governor can use to help businesses create desperately needed jobs or to return money to taxpayers crying out for help with their mounting bills during this recession.
Senate Republican Whip Kevin O’Toole, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, said that Governor Corzine’s huge, proposed income tax increases will kill jobs in New Jersey, even if they are “temporary” measures, as the governor claims.
“Increasing taxes is the worst job creation strategy conceivable during a recession,” Senator O’Toole said. “High-income earners who have the resources to create jobs and new business will leave the state, and government will not be able to pick up the slack.”
Republican members of the senate Budget Committee released the following statement following budget meetings Thursday:
Governor Corzine bristles when anyone points out failed policies that have worsened today’s budget mess and reflexively labels them as “partisan.” However, unless he acknowledges failed policies, he will never be able to correct them and things won’t get much better for people in New Jersey.
Here are some of the failed policies that have made our situation worse.
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Does Job Efficiently
The six Republican members of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee commended the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs today for spending agency money in a responsible and cost-efficient manner while providing services to our honored veterans.
Republican members of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee expressed concern today that hospitals are being awarded funding based on political motives rather than need:
