Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Sen. Kean: Christie Budget 'Restores Sanity, Boosts Jobs'

New Jersey State Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr. (R- Union) issued the following statement on the Governor’s budget:

“Governor Christie presented New Jersey with a budget that creates permanent, private sector jobs by forcing the state to live within its means and not balance wasteful spending on the backs of businesses. Restoring sanity to our state budget is the most powerful action we can take to put people back to work- far more effective than any cleverly named, haphazard package of one-shot legislation.”
“I am exceptionally pleased the Governor has made Senate Republicans’ priority of increasing school aid his own this year. School budgets are the single largest part of New Jersey’s property tax burden, and the Governor’s proposed $250 million increase in aid is welcome relief- particularly in long-shortchanged suburban districts.”
“This must be the year of meaningful reform for state pensions and benefits- key unfinished elements of the Governor’s toolkit that will give near immediate relief to property tax payers. Overly generous promises of the past have put the system on the fast track to insolvency, and put the retirement security of hundreds of thousands of state workers in jeopardy.”
“New Jersey’s economy was pushed to the brink in the last ten years- our state’s ‘Lost Decade’ of 115 tax increases, $11 billion in new spending, a doubling of state debt, and one of the highest unemployment rates in the region under Democrat leadership. The damage can not be undone overnight, but this budget is part of the road to recovery on which Senate Republicans will join the Governor.”

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