S2052

TRENTON – Governor Jon S. Corzine signed legislation sponsored by Senator Raymond Lesniak that would create a fund dedicated to paying down debt and funding capital construction projects.

“No longer can we afford to just get by year after year by only focusing on the short-term finances of New Jersey,” said Senator Lesniak, D-Union. “Quite frankly, we need to start paying down our state debt in order to free up funds for much needed investment in our infrastructure. This legislation creates the mechanism for us to do just that”

TRENTON – Both houses of the New Jersey Legislature approved legislation today sponsored by Senator Raymond Lesniak that would create a fund dedicated to paying down debt and funding capital construction projects.

“We’re focusing here on the long-term financial health of the Garden State,” said Senator Lesniak, D-Union. “New Jersey is severely limited in our ability to invest in needed infrastructure improvements because of our long-term debt. This fund will help us make those investments while paying down more of our debt.”

TRENTON – Senator Ellen Karcher, D-Monmouth and Mercer, a leader in the State Senate on reform measures to promote ethical government, issued the following statement today regarding the approval, by a vote of 34-0, of a bill banning pay to play at the State level:

“Pay to play, or the practice of trading campaign contributions for lucrative governmental contracts, is an insidious disease, eating away at the effectiveness, honesty, and integrity of government in New Jersey. Today, we took the first step, of many, to cure State government of that disease.

TRENTON – Senator Joseph V. Doria, D-Hudson, a former Assembly Speaker who empanelled the bipartisan commission that initiated the last major campaign finance reforms passed in 1993, issued the following statement regarding today’s passage of pay to play reform by the Senate by a vote of 34-0:

“As Speaker and then as Minority Leader in the early 1990’s, I was very involved with the last comprehensive set of ‘reforms,’ which were universally hailed by the press at that time. These are the same reforms that have recently been pilloried by the media every day.

TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Bernard F. Kenny Jr. today said it was “shocking” that the Republican Minority in the Senate blocked passage of the pay-to-play reform bill by playing politics.

“It’s a shame the Republicans decided to play politics instead of voting to move the process forward,” said Senator Kenny. “We all know reform is incremental, but it was shocking that the Republicans decided to stonewall for their own political reasons.”