Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean

February 2, 2009   

Contact: Bill Murray / (609) 292-5199
A More Affordable NJ, Senator Tom Kean

Multiple Ideas Taken from Republican Common-Sense Plan

Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean and Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce responded today to a statement released last week by Governor Jon Corzine that was reported by The Record of Hackensack’s editorial page editor, Alfred Doblin.  According to The Record, the Governor said in a statement that, “Generally, we have seen the same pattern here in New Jersey. We haven’t had Republican support for the economic assistance and recovery program we put together.”

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” commented Kean. “In his quote, Jon Corzine shows he is either misinformed or resorting to hyper-partisan rhetoric. Three of the bills that the governor included in the stimulus package, the throwout rule, single sales factor and the net operating loss deduction — were contained last May in the Republicans’ Common-Sense Plan for a More Affordable New Jersey, which the governor dismissed as ‘make-believe math’ when it was released.” The plan can be read by following this link: http://www.senatenj.com/the-plan.pdf (slides 26-28).

“If the governor was interested in more than simple partisanship he would exercise leadership to secure passage of the Sweeney/Kean UI reform amendment that prohibits raids on dedicated state funds and the Transparency in Government Act.”

“If you check the votes on the state stimulus bills in the Legislature, you will find the governor’s remark is inaccurate,” stated DeCroce. “But why should the governor cloud the issue with facts? While Republicans did support these measures, we have warned that they do little in the way of providing help or relief for the middle class. His quote is intended to mislead the public, but it is factually incorrect. The first step in addressing New Jersey’s economic recovery is to cut state spending, not waiting for a federal bailout.”

“The Legislature has initiated other bipartisan fiscal reform legislation which were met with only tepid support by the governor. These measures include the permit extension bill, pension reform legislation and the Lance/Lesniak amendment to prohibit borrowing without voter approval.

“In fact, the only significant ideas that the governor has had were an 800 percent toll hike that was defeated by a bipartisan coalition, and a pension deferral scheme that will cost property taxpayers more in the long run.”

Multiple Ideas Taken from Republican Common-Sense Plan Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean and Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce responded today to a statement released last week by Governor Jon Corzine that was reported by The Record of Hackensack’s editorial page editor, Alfred Doblin.  According to The [...]