TRENTON – Senator Joseph V. Doria, D-Hudson, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement today regarding Acting Governor Codey’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2006:
“The message we heard today was one of unvarnished honesty. Acting Governor Codey made it clear that the days of one-shot budget solutions and fiscal sleight of hand are over in New Jersey.
“The hard reality is that, if we want the government to maintain the services that New Jerseyans have come to expect, we have to pay for them. State government must learn to live within its means, but at the same time, it must find a way to give municipalities and local residents some genuine relief from the burden of property taxes.
“This will be a tough budget to sell, and it will be a tough budget to take. But, in the long run, if we’re going to restore a sense of fiscal sanity to New Jersey and produce a truly balanced budget, this is the sort of discussion we need to have.”