Bucco: Corzine Kicks the Budget Problem Past Election Day

Senator Anthony Bucco, Republican budget officer, made the following observations after Governor Corzine released details today of $150 million in supposed cuts he’s planning to use to balance this year’s budget:

“Governor Corzine keeps sticking his fingers in the dike as new leaks in the state’s revenue stream develop daily,” Bucco said. “It’s clear now that he’s running out of fingers.

“Faced with a $1.2 billion budget problem, Governor Corzine has done what he has always done,” Bucco said. “Corzine has pushed billions of dollars of debt and pension expenses off to another day – a day when he hopes against all reason and evidence that the state’s economy will improve so dramatically, that the effects of his grossly irresponsible budget management will be erased by growing revenue.

“The governor claims that he announced $150 million of budget cuts today. That means he’s kicking at least another $1 billion plus of expenses down the road. Does anyone really believe that paying those expenses two or three years from now will be dramatically easier than it is today?

“The governor also began the process today of pushing hundreds of millions of dollars of debt payments off the budget and on to our children and grandchildren. This refinancing is being conducted quietly, with the lack of transparency to the public that has become the hallmark of his administration.”