Senator Leonard Lance, Senate Republican Budget Officer, issued the following statement regarding a decision by the Governor’s office to borrow $2.5 billion without voter approval. The borrowing would be used to pay for school construction in the 31 special needs districts. The Supreme Court stayed action on this matter yesterday because the Governor promised that the $2.5 billion would be appropriated by the Legislature without voter approval by June 30.
“I am deeply disappointed by the Governor’s decision to borrow $ 2.5 billion without the approval of the voters. The intent of the constitution is clear: new borrowing requires the consent of the electorate.
“Governor Corzine must ensure that this new debt is approved by the voters in the November general election. Anything less will violate the spirit of the New Jersey State Constitution and his January promise to obtain voter approval for all new debt.
“Additionally, Governor Corzine’s contention that this borrowing has a dedicated revenue source is inaccurate. Dedicated revenue sources must be constitutional in nature; quite frankly, a statutorily dedicated revenue source is not worth the paper it is printed on.
“In order to prevent these problems in the future the State Constitution must be amended to ensure that all new spending receives the consent of the voters. I have proposed an amendment that would do that and I urge all of my colleagues to support it. At least four fifths of current State debt has been issued without voter approval. This is the principal source of our current fiscal crisis. We will add insult to injury if we continue to borrow billions of dollars without asking the people for their assent.”
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June 20, 2008 - Bateman: Corzine Should Conditionally Veto Massive New Borrowing and Ask the Voters to Approve Original Amount
June 25, 2008
