Painless state budget postpones pain — so what else is new? When was the last time an elected state official — whether state legislator or governor — considered the longterm impact of their budgeting?
I can’t remember either.
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Democrats are touting a new state budget, but there are some questions given that it has yet to be presented to the public. The Star-Ledger is reporting that
There are still some details to be worked out, Treasurer Bradley Abelow said at a news conference this afternoon. But he said Gov. Jon Corzine and the leaders of the Senate and Assembly have “reached a consensus on a framework to a final budget” for the year that begins July 1.
Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) and Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) stressed the budget includes record amounts for property tax relief, including the tax credits of up to 20 percent to be sent to most state homeowners this fall.Codey also said lawmakers have “made great strides” in reforming the budget process to make it more transparent. Details of the budget and applications by lawmakers for grants and other changes are to be made public tomorrow, and there will be two public hearings before final passage, scheduled June 21.
An interesting development that could prevent a rerun of last year’s debacle.
And yet, there is this
But Republican leaders are concerned the Democrats are touting an agreement even before the public sees what changes have been made to Corzine’s original $33.3 billion proposal. “How is it possible an agreement has been reached before anyone has had an opportunity to review the budget resolutions submitted last week, including our proposed budget cuts?” said Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Morris).
Election-year politics? Perhaps. But I can understand DeCroce’s skepticism and paranoia. The GOP has pretty much been excluded and the Democrats do not exactly have the greatest track record.
Then again, neither do the Republicans.
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I tend not to agree too often with The Asbury Park Press, but I have to say the editors are on to something in their criticism of the dual-office-holding ban that is likely to become law.
The bill being advanced — which would allow current members of the state Legislature to continue holding other offices, but ban future members — is hypocritical and a sop to a handful of legislators who are deemed important allies on other issues.
Corzine and Panter both said the amended bill is the best they can get. In truth, it’s the best they are willing to fight for. For Corzine, the issue apparently isn’t important enough to risk losing support on other issues from the hypocrites in the Statehouse who say dual officeholding is wrong for future lawmakers but not for themselves.
And it assumes that a full ban would not have enough votes — a notion that only holds true if you exclude Republicans from the tally. My suspicion — and I’m not in Trenton counting the votes — is that there would be enough support from members of both parties for a full ban, but that the Democrats do not want a war within their caucus. Perhaps this is good politics, but it is bad policy for New Jersey.
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Tom Moran explains what’s wrong with the alternative budget offered by the GOP:
Republicans tend to get defensive when they are accused of favoring the rich over the poor. That’s class warfare, we are told. And it’s just not American.
Which makes it difficult to be polite while discussing the latest Republican moves on the state budget. Because the GOP plan is crowded with efforts to take money from poor cities and shift it to wealthier suburbs.
Not that the Democrats are not doing the same thing in reverse, as Moran acknowledges, but the GOP plan is less of a serious budget than a campaign blueprint:
(O)n the whole, this plan misses the mark. It’s designed to score political points, not to offer a realistic alternative to Corzine’s proposed budget.
As if the state didn’t have enough fiscal problems.
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It’s pretty sad that The Record has been forced to endorse a rather weak and watered-down reform. But here it is.
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Hank Kalet 