Surprise! New Jersey Governor proposes budget with no new taxes and less spending!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Gov. Jon Corzine today renewed his call to aggressively reduce state debt as he unveiled a $33 billion state budget that is $500 million less than the one he signed last June.

...

"New Jersey has a government its people cannot afford," Corzine said. Correcting that, he said, "requires many unpleasant choices" and "will inevitably mean reducing spending in areas that we all support."

...

His proposal would eliminate three state departments -- Agriculture, Personnel and the Commerce Commission -- and 3,000 of the 68,430 jobs on the state payroll. It also would pare $472 million from the state program of property tax rebates -- eliminating them for households earning more than $150,000 a year -- and cut state aid to towns by $190 million and to hospitals by $143 million.

...

Property tax rebates would be eliminated for households earning more than $150,000 a year and reduced -- by as much as a third -- for those earning between $100,000 and $150,000.

...

Towns with populations of less than 10,000 will get less state aid but will be eligible for $32 million in state grants to encourage them to consolidate or share services.

...

Hospitals face "across the board" cuts in state aid.

...

"This budget significantly reduces the size -- and cost -- of government," Corzine said. "Spending is down in every department of the Executive Branch. As best we can tell, this is the first time this has ever occurred," Corzine said.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/02/c..._from_stat.html

[Ban Hammer 13,360]

see, joisey really does suck

[Dan J 277]

Here we have a governor who got pissed because the Minnesota congress overrode his veto on a transportation bill. It rose the gas tax slightly and increased registration fees. But roads do cost money and they are not going to fix themselves. The Republicans that voted to override the veto are feeling the fury of their own party. With seniority stripped and other punishments.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I hope someone does something to fix the roads in my area. Our car has taken a beating going over those F*cking pot-holes.

[dalegg 143]

Gov. Jon Corzine today renewed his call to aggressively reduce state debt as he unveiled a $33 billion state budget that is $500 million less than the one he signed last June.

...

"New Jersey has a government its people cannot afford," Corzine said. Correcting that, he said, "requires many unpleasant choices" and "will inevitably mean reducing spending in areas that we all support."

...

His proposal would eliminate three state departments -- Agriculture, Personnel and the Commerce Commission -- and 3,000 of the 68,430 jobs on the state payroll. It also would pare $472 million from the state program of property tax rebates -- eliminating them for households earning more than $150,000 a year -- and cut state aid to towns by $190 million and to hospitals by $143 million.

...

Property tax rebates would be eliminated for households earning more than $150,000 a year and reduced -- by as much as a third -- for those earning between $100,000 and $150,000.

...

Towns with populations of less than 10,000 will get less state aid but will be eligible for $32 million in state grants to encourage them to consolidate or share services.

...

Hospitals face "across the board" cuts in state aid.

...

"This budget significantly reduces the size -- and cost -- of government," Corzine said. "Spending is down in every department of the Executive Branch. As best we can tell, this is the first time this has ever occurred," Corzine said.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/02/c..._from_stat.html

This is a Democrat?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

This is a Democrat?

Yeap!

That's the beauty of it all. The best part is the reduction in aid (stick) combined with the grants (carrot) for towns with less than 10,000 people. We have lots of those and most of them have their own school system and own police department and own everything else. A shared services model could save a lot of money (there are plenty of Rutgers studies showing that) but no one wants to cede their turf. I am pleased to see the Governor actually do something in that area.