Governor, Is An Open Mind Too Much to Ask?

May 30, 2008

Contact: Andy Pratt / 609-292-5199
A More Affordable NJ, Senator Kevin J. O'Toole (R-40)

“My friends … in the next three months, let us come together in a bipartisan demonstration of responsible governance and find the common ground to restore our state’s fiscal viability.” Jon Corzine, budget address, February 2008.

Assembly Republican Budget Officer Joseph Malone and Republican Whip Senator Kevin O’Toole, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, said they were very disappointed that Governor Corzine dismissed the Republicans’ common-sense budget proposal yesterday with a terse, inaccurate and overtly partisan statement. O’Toole plans to send a letter to State Treasurer David Rousseau asking him to appear before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee to explain why the governor apparently abandoned the bipartisan approach to drafting the budget that he touted earlier this year.

“I am truly puzzled by the Governor’s inexplicable partisan outburst and his apparent inability to rise above partisan politics. It’s hypocritical for the governor who once said charity care funding is vital to call it ‘gimmickry’ when we find $195 million in savings that can be used to restore his charity care cuts,” O’Toole said.

“When the governor signed a budget that increased property tax rebates last year, he portrayed it as a victory for all New Jersey taxpayers,” Malone said. “When we find money to restore the rebates he plans to cut after only one year, he says we are engaged in ‘trickery.’”

“We believed the Governor really wanted us to participate in the process, and we have moved forward under that impression until yesterday,” Malone said. “Now Corzine seems to be alone among state Democrats in refusing to even consider the Republicans’ well-crafted and carefully reviewed plan to make New Jersey affordable by preventing future toll and tax increases.”

“I am pleased by the reaction of Senator Barbara Buono, a Democrat and chairwoman of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee,” O’Toole said. “She clearly has demonstrated an open mind no matter which party is making suggestions about fixing this flawed budget.”

“Speaker Joseph Roberts reached out yesterday to find common ground with us,” Malone said. “We truly welcome such bipartisan cooperation as we begin final budget negotiations.”

The Senator and Assemblyman say that until yesterday, they believed the Governor and the treasurer were really committed to bipartisan cooperation as well. After all, the Governor had asked Republicans to participate in six weeks of bipartisan budget workshops with the treasurer and many of the department heads. Some of the things learned at these workshops were incorporated into the Republican plan.

“Governor, we don’t think an open mind is too much to ask,” Malone said.

For more information about the Republicans’ common sense plan for a more affordable New Jersey, see www.njassemblyrepublicans.com or www.senatenj.com.

Link to Post:

http://www.senatenj.com/index.php/otoole/governor-is-an-open-mind-too-much-to-ask/510