Corzine Faces Battle With Own Party Over Budget
Corzine faces money fight:
Gov. Jon Corzine faces a state budget between $5 and $6 billion in the hole, but as he works to close the gap, the biggest obstacle will be the spending habits of his own party’s lawmakers.
Two years ago, then-Gov. James E. McGreevey proposed a $26 billion budget in March. By the time it was enacted in early July, it had swelled by $2 billion in spending added on in the Democrat-controlled Legislature.
Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce, R-Morris, said $1 billion in possible spending cuts and cost-saving measures his party proposed last year were ignored. Pointing to the report issued by Corzine's Transition and Governmental Re-engineering Committee, he said he expects a similar year.
"There is no question the state budget is loaded with waste that needs to be cut," DeCroce said. "We ask Governor Corzine to eliminate wasteful spending before he considers more tax hikes on our state's overburdened taxpayers."
New Jersey Government: New Jersey Budget
