Lance: $3.9 Billion in Debt Needs Voter Approval

June 20, 2008

Contact: Bill Murray / 609-292-5199
Senator Leonard Lance (R-23)

Republican Budget Officer Will Offer Amendment Today Requiring An Election

Senate Republican Budget Officer Leonard Lance issued the following statement regarding the Corzine Administration’s plans to borrow $3.9 billion without voter approval. The borrowing would be used primarily for court-ordered school construction in the state’s 31 so-called special needs (Abbott) districts. The new borrowing will raise New Jersey’s debt total to nearly $40 billion, far more per resident than any other state.

“Today, I will offer an amendment to Senate Bill 1457 that will require that any new bonding undertaken by the Economic Development Authority is subject to voter approval, as the state Constitution requires. This amendment is based on the bedrock principle in our Constitution that the voters of the State of New Jersey have ultimate control over how their money is spent, not the Legislature and or the state courts.

“Including the total debt service, this school borrowing will cost current and future taxpayers a total of $6.82 billion. We will put our children and their children in debt for decades. Our total state debt, by some calculations, now exceeds $40 billion. New Jersey has the third highest debt load in the nation, behind only the much larger states of California and New York. It has by far the highest debt per person of any state.

“Voters weren’t asked before most of this massive obligation was incurred. It’s far past time to ask them whether they want to go even deeper into debt. This new borrowing will tie the states finances in a Gordian knot of debt, unable to be loosened for generations. Voters should decide whether they want the borrowing to continue, or to stop it here and now.”