NEW BRUNSWICK – Senator Barbara Buono, D-Middlesex, the Chair of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement today at the opening of the annual public hearings on the State Budget in the Student Center at Rutgers University:
“Welcome everyone to the first of three public hearings on the State of New Jersey’s FY 2009 Budget, which must be balanced, passed and signed into law by June 30th of the current fiscal year.
NEW BRUNSWICK – State Senator Paul A. Sarlo, D-Bergen, Essex and Passaic, the Vice Chair of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement regarding the first public hearing on Governor Corzine’s proposed FY 2009 Budget, which was held today in the Student Center at Rutgers University:
“Today’s hearing offered a very productive dialogue with members of the public and local public officials, who are on the frontlines regarding the tough budget decisions we need to make on a Statewide level to put New Jersey on the right fiscal track.
NEW BRUNSWICK – Senator Sandra Bolden Cunningham, D-Hudson, today released the following statement highlighting her concern about proposed cuts to health care and education funding within Governor Corzine’s proposed Fiscal Year 2009 budget. Senator Cunningham and other members of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee heard testimony today from representatives of municipalities, interest groups and organizations at a hearing held at Rutgers’ New Brunswick campus.
“First and foremost, I’m concerned about many of the proposed cuts within this budget. I understand the necessity of freeing up funds to help improve New Jersey’s fiscal standing, but it is imperative that we look at the people who will be affected by the reductions in aid.
NEW BRUNSWICK – State Senator Shirley K. Turner, D-Mercer, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on the first public hearing on Governor Corzine’s proposed FY 2009 Budget, which was held today in the Student Center at Rutgers University:
“Today was our first opportunity, as a Committee, to get feedback from the public on the Governor’s proposed Budget. While I believe that the committee understood before today that the FY 2009 budget is as painful a proposal as we’ve seen in a long time, today’s hearing put a human face on the cuts proposed.
TRENTON – Senator Bob Smith announced today that he will chair a joint meeting of the Senate Environment Committee and Senate Legislative Oversight Committee on Monday, March 17, 2008 to receive testimony from Inspector General Mary Jane Cooper concerning her report on the failures involved in the EnCap golf and housing project.
“When it comes to EnCap, it seems like a case of promises being repeated made and then repeatedly broken,” said Senator Smith, D-Middlesex and Chair of the Environment committee. “Now we have an incomplete clean up project on our hands in the Meadowlands, with uncapped landfills and untreated pollution still endangering the region. There are serious questions that must be answered about how a company with questionable financial backing like EnCap was allowed to undertake the remediation of such environmentally sensitive lands without better oversight.”
TRENTON – Senator Ronald L. Rice released the following statement today regarding his new proposed legislation to rescue families that have become victims of the foreclosure crisis and to help keep others from falling behind in their mortgage payments.
“In 2008, between 13,000 and 16,000 New Jersey homeowners are likely to face foreclosure as a result of high-cost, subprime loans. Because we are all facing tough financial times, it’s even more important that we step up and provide real and lasting solutions to the residential mortgage crisis. Too many families are losing their homes and it’s time for the Legislature and interest groups to work together to reduce the devastating impact these foreclosures have on our residents and communities.
NEW BRUNSWICK – The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee will hold its first public hearing on Governor Corzine’s proposed FY 2009 budget at Rutgers University tomorrow.
“Through these public hearings, we’re making sure the public has a chance to voice its opinion on the FY 2009 budget,” said Senator Buono, D-Middlesex, the Chair of the Budget Panel. “We already know that this is going to be a very difficult budget year. Accountability to the people of New Jersey is important now more than ever, as we try to rein in overspending and poor fiscal policies.”
TRENTON – A key Senate committee unanimously advanced a bill, S-1339, sponsored by Senator Jim Whelan, to require prior approval by the State Local Finance Board of large municipal property sales or leases of valuable tracts like Bader Field in Atlantic City which could generate close to a billion dollars for the casino resort.
“This bill would provide state oversight for a transaction that will have a substantial impact on local taxpayers and of critical quality of life issues affecting Atlantic City for generations,” said Senator Whelan, the former mayor of Atlantic City.
TRENTON – A measure sponsored by Senators Loretta Weinberg and Joseph F. Vitale, which would permit the Governor to appoint the teenage members of the Advisory Council on Adolescent Pregnancy, without the advice and consent of the Senate was approved today by the Senate State Government Committee.
“Speeding up the appointment process of these young people, would allow the Council to be more progressive about working to develop programs to help secure more resources for teenage parents, while also stressing the importance of safe sex and abstinence,” said Senator Weinberg, D-Bergen, who serves as Vice Chair of the Senate State Government panel. “Of the four adolescent members of the council, two would be parents, and they would be able to provide first hand views on the needs of teenage parents. The lives of our children are too precious to deny them the resources they need because of a lengthy appointment process.”
“Since being established in 1997, it’s been hard for the Council to secure teenage members because of the lengthy appointment process,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex. “We cannot expect these teens to sit around and wait months to be appointed while they have so many other things going on with their lives, including school, extra-curricular activities, and for some of them, raising children.”
TRENTON – A measure sponsored by Senators Nicholas J. Sacco and Sandra Bolden Cunningham, which would require bus and rail lines to provide 45 days notice of the discontinuation of certain routes, to local and county governments was approved today by the Senate Transportation Committee.
“People who rely on public transportation schedule their days around bus and train routes, and if they have been taking the same route for years, it often becomes a comfortable routine,” said Senator Sacco, D-Hudson and Bergen, who chairs the Senate Transportation panel. “This legislation would help to give local bus and train riders advanced notice of route cancellations and allow them to make other arrangements.”
“Throughout New Jersey, and in cities like Jersey City, in particular, many residents rely on public transportation to get to and from work, to run errands, and to just generally get from point A to point B,” said Senator Cunningham, D-Hudson. “By providing these residents with notice of route closings ahead of time, they will be able to find other routes to get them to their destinations.”