TRENTON – Senator Paul A. Sarlo, D-Bergen, Essex and Passaic, the Vice Chair of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement regarding today’s Committee hearing on the FY 2009 Department of Law and Public Safety Budget, and the need to provide funding for a State Police barracks in Bergen County:
“Throughout this year’s budget deliberations, representatives from rural areas have raised concerns about a proposal to charge communities patrolled by State Police a fee, to help offset the cost of these patrols. While I believe it would be wholly inappropriate for New Jersey to ask rural communities to shoulder the entire responsibility of these patrols, I believe a small fee helps to reimburse the State a portion of the costs associated with rural patrols, and helps ensure State Police resources are available for the rest of the State.
TRENTON – On the day that the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee discussed state spending on higher education and the borrowing habits of students at New Jersey’s colleges and universities, Senator Barbara Buono announced today plans to re-introduce legislation regulating credit card solicitations on campus and requiring credit card companies to provide consumer credit education programs to students.
“College students are leaving our colleges and universities with an unprecedented amount of credit card debt,” said Senator Buono, D-Middlesex and Chair of the Committee. “On average, they are graduating with well over $3,000, on average, in credit card debt. That’s on top of any college loans they may have taken to pay for school in the first place.”
TRENTON – Senator Sandra Bolden Cunningham, D-Hudson, the lead questioner for today’s FY 2009 Budget with the Higher Education Commission, released the following statement:
“The State’s NJ STARS programs, while relatively new, seem to be making a real difference in the lives of New Jersey’s scholars. I applaud Senator Wayne Bryant for authoring this legislation because it gives hope to some of the State’s hardest working scholars.
“With this year’s bleak financial forecast, it’s obvious that we’ll need to make some changes with regard to higher education funding. Governor Corzine’s proposed budget includes an increase of $900,000 to help cover the cost of tuition and fees under the STARS programs. It is imperative that we find a way to continue to provide the STARS programs to some of our neediest students, which could mean cutting funds for those who can afford to pay.
TRENTON – Senator Shirley K. Turner, D-Mercer, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on today’s hearing of the FY 2009 Department of Law and Public Safety Budget:
“In our State’s urban centers, local law enforcement is struggling to keep up pace with the rate of violent crime being perpetrated by individuals and gangs. Gangs, guns and drugs rule the streets, and nearly every major prosecution in our urban courtrooms can be linked back to one of those three factors. Our cities are facing an epidemic of drug- and gang-related crime, and need State support to make a difference in the lives of local residents.
Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney (D-3) and Senator Steven Oroho (R-24), members of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, made this statement after hearing testimony before the committee about the governor’s proposal to charge residents of 89 municipalities extra fees for the cost of State Police protection:
“State Police officers aren’t just watching the streets of small towns. They patrol highways and help law enforcement in towns big and small with efforts to combat gangs, solve major crimes and keep streets safe,” Sweeney said. “If the governor wants municipalities to bolster the State Police budget, he should have all 566 communities contribute, not just take from small towns.”
TRENTON – The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee will continue its hearings on the FY 2009 Budget by taking testimony from representatives of New Jersey’s higher educational services and Department of Law and Public Safety on Monday.
Barbara Buono, D-Middlesex and Chairwoman of the Senate panel, said the Committee will begin its hearings at 9:30 a.m. with Jane Oates, Executive Director of the Commission on Higher Education and Edward Yaw, Chairman of the New Jersey Presidents’ Council testifying.
TRENTON – Senator Paul A. Sarlo, Chairman of the Senate Labor Committee, today said the panel would schedule a special hearing May 5 on the workers’ compensation system in New Jersey.
“It’s appropriate to take a close look at the workers’ compensation system to see whether it can be made more efficient,” said Senator Sarlo, D-Bergen, Essex and Passaic. “The recent media focus on the system gives us a chance to see if we can make it a better, fairer program so nobody falls through the cracks.”
TRENTON – Senator Paul A. Sarlo, D-Bergen, Essex, and Passaic and Vice Chair of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, released the following statement today at a news conference held by the New Jersey League of Municipalities Concerning the impact the proposed FY09 State Budget will have on local property taxes:
“I’ve been clear from the day Governor Corzine announced his budget proposal that we must restore the $189 million in municipal aid cuts to New Jersey’s small municipalities. Our small towns are among the most efficient in the State and these cuts would dramatically raise property taxes for countless families throughout the State and send the wrong message to taxpayers.
TRENTON – Senator Barbara Buono, D-Middlesex and Chairwoman of Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement regarding the testimony of Major General Glenn Rieth on the State’s preparedness during a disaster at today’s hearing on the FY 2009 Budget of the State Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs.
“There is a great need for our citizen soldiers to serve our country overseas and although I fully support the troops and their families during these difficult times, I am concerned that the deployments may jeopardize the safety of New Jersey residents.
TRENTON – Senator Sandra Bolden Cunningham, D-Hudson and a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement regarding today’s panel hearing on the affect of the FY 2009 Budget on the State Department of Corrections:
“While talking with senior staff from the Department of Corrections today, it struck me that the Department’s most important programs don’t focus on the incarceration of inmates, but rather on making sure New Jersey citizens don’t commit crimes in the first place.
TRENTON – Senator Shirley K. Turner, D-Mercer and a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement regarding today’s panel hearing on the portion of the FY09 State Budget dealing with the Department of Corrections:
“New Jersey now spends over $1 billion each year incarcerating convicted criminals. In the end, the taxpayers receive no tangible benefit from this spending – our streets still aren’t any safer after we lock away all of these people.
TRENTON – Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, sponsor of the law enacted last year to abolish the death penalty in New Jersey and author of The Road to Abolition: How New Jersey Abolished the Death Penalty, issued the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court approved the use of lethal injection to carry out executions.
“Now, more than ever, it is imperative that the 37 remaining states to still have the death penalty on their books, as well as the federal government, all do the right and moral thing by abolishing capital punishment.
TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement regarding Senate Republican attacks on Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts’ plan to move from a property tax rebate check to a credit on the State income tax:
“As long as I’ve known Joe Roberts, I’ve known him to be a dedicated public servant willing to stand up and fight for the needs of his constituents. Even though Republican lawmakers may be loath to admit it, the man has credibility when it comes to seeking to control the soaring costs of government in New Jersey. He has been in the trenches, with measures like the CORE plan, local property tax caps and a 20 percent reduction on the property tax bills of hard-hit taxpayers.
TRENTON – After a joint hearing of the Legislative environmental panels in the Statehouse today, Senator Bob Smith, the Chair of the Senate Environment Committee, said that site remediation reform would be a priority for his Committee, and that we must revolutionize the way site remediation and environmental cleanup is done in New Jersey.
“Saving our environment and protecting our natural resources must be a bipartisan Legislative priority every year,” said Senator Smith, D-Middlesex and Somerset. “Over the last few years, we’ve instituted some landmark environmental legislation, from the Highlands plan, to diesel emissions protections, to modernizing environmental regulations and penalties on polluters. However without a strong and efficient site remediation program turning our State’s polluted sites into viable property for redevelopment, any environmental advances of the last few years will be for naught.”
TRENTON – Senator Bob Gordon, D-Bergen, a member of the Senate Environment Committee, issued the following statement today after a joint meeting of the Legislative environment panels to review the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)’s plan to reform how the State handles site remediation oversight:
“As I said in my opening remarks to the Committee, the two biggest challenges facing New Jersey today are one: getting our fiscal house in order; and two: removing the obstacles standing in the way of redeveloping our State’s older communities. We need to find a balance between maintaining New Jersey’s economy and protecting the health and safety of our residents, and I think that through site remediation reform, we can accomplish both of these goals.