TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) today released the following statement following the Governor’s vetoes of the Democratic state budget passed yesterday by the Legislature:
“Just like last year, the governor is placing the weight of this budget around the neck of every working family. Our schools are not being made whole, and seniors are still going to see their property taxes go up. All the while, the wealthiest New Jerseyans are still being saved from any of the governor’s ‘shared sacrifice.’
“Further, this budget is mean-spirited and vindictive. The non-partisan staff at OLS had the temerity to stick to their guns and project revenues different from the governor’s. Cutting funding for the Office of Legislative Services by $250,000 only seeks to silence the only check and balance on his unbridled power. In addition, he cut the TAG program by the $21 million we added in the budget, and then cut an additional $25 million. There is no other way to interpret his actions other than retaliatory and vindictive.
“This budget is the wrong way forward for this state, and I look forward to the opportunity to side with my constituents and to vote to overturn the governor’s vetoes.”