Measure To Be Posted for Monday Senate Vote
TRENTON – Senate President Steve Sweeney today welcomed Senator Loretta Weinberg’s reintroduction of legislation to restore critical funding for women’s healthcare, in light of the spike in state revenues that would allow the governor’s budget cut to be reversed before more clinics are forced to close their doors. Under his authority, the Senate President placed the bill immediately on second reading and scheduled a Senate floor vote on the measure for Monday:
The Senate President issued the following statement:
“First and foremost, I want to thank Senator Weinberg for her constant and consistent fight on behalf of the women of New Jersey. Loretta has been a tireless advocate for the many thousands of women who relied upon the state’s family planning clinics to meet their most basic health care needs and who saw their medical safety net ripped out from under them last year with a stroke of the governor’s pen.
“Last year the governor told us there was no funding available for women’s healthcare in the budget. We knew then as we know now, it was a false claim used to mask right-wing ideology. But now we have a chance to do the right thing. With both the administration and the Office of Legislative Services acknowledging increases in revenues of several hundred million dollars, there is simply no reason why $7.5 million of that funding can’t be used to close this gaping hole in women’s healthcare.
“The Senate will vote on this issue Monday — the health and well-being of women throughout New Jersey is simply too important to put off for another day. I hope my colleagues across the aisle who voted for this funding last year before the governor told them they had to be against it will finally find the backbone and the voice to tell King Christie that his veto was the absolute wrong thing to do.”
