New Jersey Senate Republicans

Data to be Used for State Planning Purposes Kept Secret Senator Christopher “Kip” Bateman (R-Somerset) continued to call on Governor Jon Corzine today to release the results of a Rutgers study provided to the State Planning Commission that projects future population, employment and housing numbers in New Jersey. The numbers from the Rutgers Study apparently indicate that job growth for the period encompassing the years 2008 to 2028 will only amount to 6,550 annually, compared with the administration’s previous projection of 54,000 over the same period. (more…) Read Full Story

Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean today called on Governor Jon Corzine to immediately impound all unspent funds. This year’s budget is running almost $1 billion behind in anticipated revenues. A projection by the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services (OLS) estimates the structural budget deficit for FY 2011 to be almost $10 billion. Impounding funds is using legal authority to set aside appropriated monies. “It is vitally important that the Corzine Administration ensures that a portion of unspent funds are immediately impounded. Revenue collections for the current budget are running more than $1 billion behind, in the current fiscal year. (more…) Read Full Story

Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean welcomed the announcement by Governor Corzine that he is taking steps to save an additional $400 million in this year’s budget. “Governor Corzine is making the tough, necessary decisions to ensure that the state budget remains in balance throughout the remainder of the current fiscal year. It is encouraging that he moved quickly to address the revenue shortfall. (more…) Read Full Story

“New Jersey Pays Goldman Sachs for Swaps on Nonexistent Bonds ” — Headline of a Bloomberg News Article Published on Oct. 23 Senator Joe Kyrillos reacted with fury and disgust to a Bloomberg News article that says the Corzine administration is paying Goldman Sachs almost $1 million a month because the state recklessly entered a risky financial agreement. The agreement, according to Bloomberg, performed so badly it provides no benefits for taxpayers and never will. Kyrillos demanded that Governor Corzine order an immediate, independent accounting of the more than $4.4 billion of similar transactions that the state and state authorities have entered over the ... Read Full Story

Senator Gerald Cardinale, a Republican on the State House Commission, said that Governor Corzine has opened the door to corruption with his plan to sell the Camden State Prison property under a no-bid contract. The State House Commission voted to approve an opaque process of the kind that has failed taxpayers repeatedly in the past with such projects as the disastrous EnCap development and the bungled Xanadu project. Only commission members Senator Cardinale and Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon voted against the governor’s wrong-headed plan. “The governor has opened the door to corruption by refusing to let the sale of the prison property be conducted by ... Read Full Story