DeCROCE SAYS CORZINE’S REFUSAL TO RE-EXAMINE THE STATE BUDGET NOW DEFIES COMMON SENSE

ENTIRE ASSEMBLY REPUBLICAN CAUCUS ENDORSES CALL FOR SPECIAL ECONOMIC SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE IN LETTER TO CORZINE

Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce said today he is “disappointed and baffled” by Democrat Gov. Jon Corzine’s cavalier dismissal of calls by Republican lawmakers to take a fresh look at the state budget in the wake of economic turmoil even he concedes has left New Jersey “vulnerable.”

He announced that the entire Assembly Republican caucus has signed a letter sent to Corzine today urging him to reconsider his decision.“New Jersey has been in the grip of an affordability crisis for quite sometime,” states the letter to Corzine. “But now, in the wake of the economic turmoil triggered by the troubles on Wall Street, many taxpayers in New Jersey now face a survivability crisis. People are scared. They worry about possible foreclosure on their homes, how they will make their next mortgage payment, will they have a job tomorrow, and whether the money they have invested for retirement will be there when they need it.

“We, the undersigned members of the Assembly Republican Caucus, implore you to reconsider your refusal to revisit the budget for the current fiscal year and find more cuts to compensate for the loss of tax revenue that will be the inevitable result of the calamity on Wall Street and the continued loss of jobs.”

BIPARTISAN BILLS FOR NOVEMBER SCHOOL ELECTIONS,
SLASHING SCHOOL OVERHEAD COSTS CLEAR COMMITTEE
Measures Aim to Enhance Accountability at School Board Level,
Clamp Down on Non-Classroom Administrative Costs

(TRENTON) - Two bipartisan measures Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr. is championing to enhance local voters' ability to hold elected school board members accountable for their fiscal and policy decisions and to slash inefficient non-classroom administrative spending in public schools were released today by the Assembly Education Committee.

As PolitickerNJ.com begins a subjective tournament to choose New Jersey's Smartest Legislator, state Sen. Leonard Lance could be the early front runner. Lance has faced some criticism from members of his own party for being more of a statesman than a politician, but several statehouse watchers and former legislators say he may be one of the brightest people in Trenton.

"Leonard Lance is the one guy who sits in the legislature today that could have sat in the Senate in the late 1960's and early 1970's," said lobbyist/public relations executive Alan Marcus, who served as Clerk of the General Assembly in 1969, at age 21. "Leonard is a throwback to that era of the noblesse oblige, of quiet brilliance -- of people who don't speak on every issue, but who become conversant on every issue."

Lance isn't the only name that comes up in discussions about smart legislators. In the Senate, the most repeated names were Raymond Lesniak, Nia Gill, Kevin O'Toole, Bill Baroni, John Adler, Dick Codey, and Barbara Buono.

In the Assembly, Joe Roberts, Michael Patrick Carroll, Joe Malone, David Russo, and John Wisniewski were frequently mentioned as among the brainiest.

ROBERTS ASKS TREASURER FOR QUICK REVIEW
OF DeCROCE/MALONE BUDGET PLAN

(TRENTON) - Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr. today asked state Treasurer Bradley Abelow to conduct an expedited financial review of budget changes proposed by Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce and Assembly Republican Budget Officer Joe Malone.

ASSEMBLY REPUBLICANS ANNOUNCE APPOINTMENTS TO PROPERTY TAX COMMITTEE TEAMS

SUBCOMMITTEES ON EACH TOPIC WILL ENSURE ALL MEMBERS OF THE CAUCUS HAVE INPUT

MALONE AND KEAN: NOT EVERY STATE WORKER
CAN AFFORD TO TAKE A PAY CUT
SAY FOCUS NEEDS TO BE ON INDIVIDUALS WHO MAKE EXTRAVAGANT SALARIES

REPUBLICAN BUDGET MEMBERS: BUDGET IS FULL OF TAX HIKES, BUT STILL SEEMS TO LACK SPENDING CUTS

TREASURER ACKNOWLEDGES BUDGET LACKS SIGNIFICANT CUTS

REPUBLICAN BUDGET COMMITTEE MEMBERS SAY PLAN TO CHARGE MUNICIPALITIES FOR STATE POLICE COVERAGE WILL DRIVE UP PROPERTY TAXES

CONCERN OVER USING STATE POLICE IN RURAL AREAS -- BUT NOT IN PLACES LIKE CAMDEN AND IRVINGTON -- IS A DOUBLE-STANDARD

OLS REVENUE PROJECTIONS PROMPT REPUBLICAN BUDGET MEMBERS TO CALL FOR MORE SPENDING CUTS
NEW REVENUE PROJECTION DATA INDICATES MORE FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE CUTTING MUST BE DONE
The four Republican members of the Assembly Budget Committee today called on Governor Corzine to submit more fiscally responsible spending cuts in response to a report from the Office of Legislative Service's (OLS) showing revenue projections for the next two years that are nearly $200 million below what is anticipated in the governor's budget proposal.

"The public outrage about this budget is growing and these new revenue numbers are very troubling news," said Assembly Republican Budget Officer Joe Malone, R-Burlington, Ocean, Monmouth and Mercer. "This revenue shortfall again emphasizes that we cannot rely on tax increases to straighten out this budget. We need to cut spending."

GREENWALD STATEMENT ON OPENING
OF STEPPED-UP BUDGET REVIEW PROCESS

(TRENTON) -- Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Louis D. Greenwald issued the following statement at his panel's opening meeting where members took testimony from State Auditor Richard Fair on his office's continuing work to identify potential cost savings and operating efficiencies that might help alleviate the state's anticipated FY07 budget shortfall: