TOM KEAN TO CORZINE: THERE ARE NO TIMEOUTS IN GOVERNING

Corzine Refuses to Cut Spending, Takes Obama's "Hope" Message Literally

Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean responded to reports today that Governor Jon Corzine has planned to delay the introduction of New Jersey's FY 2010 budget until mid-March. It is customary for the budget for the following fiscal year to be introduced in February, to provide the Legislature with sufficient time to properly review, alter and approve the budget by the start of the State's new fiscal year on July 1. According to published reports, the delay is attributable to Corzine's apparent reliance on a yet to be announced bailout from the Obama Administration to help cover significant deficits in the current and future budgets.

"Governor Corzine has taken President-Elect Obama's 'Hope' message a bit too literally. Rather than make the tough decisions that he was elected to make, Governor Corzine continues to hope that an Obama bailout will fix New Jersey's massive budget deficit. 'Hope' is not a plan that will fix New Jersey's broken budget, and 'Hope' for a one-time bailout will not stop the excessive spending that has made New Jersey the most taxed state in the nation.

"There are billions of dollars of waste in New Jersey's budget that can be cut today, but rather than make the wrong decision, Governor Corzine refuses to make any decisions at all. Governor Corzine needs to learn that there are no timeouts in governing."