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Buono Statement On FY2010 Projected Budget Deficit

TRENTON � Senator Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex), chairwoman of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on the projected budget deficit for the current state fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2010.

�The information released by the administration this week as part of a bond prospectus updates the status of our current state budget, specifically, the size of the projected deficit. While the Corzine administration has already disclosed a $190 million shortfall at the end of the first fiscal quarter � and identified cost savings to more than make up the difference � the projections going forward continue to be troubling.

�Largely due to continuing revenue shortfalls and the need for supplemental appropriations, the projected deficit by the close of the current fiscal year is now estimated at $1 billion. This information underscores the need for the continued fiscal restraint as we work our way through this global economic crisis. State government needs to resist any efforts to increase spending at this time. Obviously, many worthy and deserving programs that are in need of state funding will have to make do without it. We have no choice � there simply isn�t enough money to sustain our current state budget, let alone any additional spending proposals.

�We in the Legislature will continue to work with the current administration as well as the incoming Christie administration to identify the kind of cost savings that will be required to get us through this difficult time.�