Governor Elect Chris Christie sent the following letter to Governor Corzine today:
November 16, 2009
Honorable Jon Corzine
Governor
State of New Jersey
State House
Post Office Box One
Trenton, NJ 08625-0001
Re: URGENT ACTIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE STATE BUDGET
Sent Via Hand Delivery
Dear Governor Corzine:
I am writing to follow-up on our conversation last week, and to thank you for your kind and gracious offer to take all possible steps to
ensure a smooth and orderly transition. During that discussion, you indicated that you would be taking additional steps to address
weak revenue collections that threaten to deplete this year’s planned budget surplus and aggravate next year’s multi-billion dollar
structural budget deficit.
As you know, I am deeply concerned about the state of New Jersey’s economy and the effects that the deepening fiscal crisis for both
fiscal years 2010 and year 2011 could have on New Jersey taxpayers. In order to prevent the crisis from worsening and budget hole
we are in from deepening during this critical transition period, I respectfully request that you take the following actions:
1) Place all discretionary grant and state aid accounts, including, but not limited to, Special Municipal Aid and Extraordinary Aid, in
reserve.
2) Freeze all new paid appointments and re-appointments to boards and commissions.
3) Line item veto any legislation with a fiscal impact on the State budget.
4) Veto all discretionary spending items in authority minutes.
5) Freeze all professional service, public relations, and consulting contracts.
6) Freeze all pending regulations that would incur additional spending.
7) Freeze all nonessential hires, promotions and raises.
8) Freeze all non-contractual personnel actions, including title changes and transfers.
9) Freeze all transfers of funds and directory letter appropriations.
10) Freeze all new leases, long term purchasing contracts and other long term obligations including certificates of participation.
11) Freeze the retention of all new outside professionals, manager selections, and new contracts for managing alternative investments
with respect to New Jersey’s pension funds.
12) Advise and provide advance notice to transition staff and major financial transactions.
13) Strictly enforce, and refrain from relaxing, any existing spending constraints and financial controls.
14) Hold 50% of all operating accounts in reserve to ensure that agencies are not spending more than half of their operating budgets
prior to the commencement of the second half of the year.
As we have advised your staff, I have named two experienced New Jersey natives and budget experts, Bob Grady and Rich Bagger, as
Co-Chairmen of the Transition Task Force on Budget and Taxes.
I have asked them to assemble a team to make recommendations to address the budget crisis and put New Jersey on a more sustainable fiscal footing. I ask that your staff continue to cooperate with them in providing information and assistance.
I appreciate your cooperation on these vitally important matters.
With best wishes,
Yours sincerely,
Chris Christie
Governor-Elect
Cc: David Rousseau, Treasurer
May the Force Be With Us
1 day ago
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6 comments:
also: cut the charity care 100% free ride: it's one of the main reasons for this deficit: also, ban useless, self-serving legislation: the damn assembly's done for 2 more years: we only have the 40 Senators' egos' legis. to slap their names on!!..finally, any more stuff in this year's pipeline that adds one cent more in fines, fees and penalties, needs to be shredded and recycled!( for more revenue, of course!).
Why is he asking Corzine to do the heavy lifting? Christie should do it himself when he gets sworn in. i hope he isn't getting cold feet.
(1) Stop the Mass Transit Tunnel and concentrate on highway improvemens.
(2) Put money into public transportation by bus. And into buses that run on natual gas. Not into very expensive rail projects.
(3) End the subsidies for the Atlantic City to Philadelphia Rail Line immediately.
(4)An end to pre-K programs by the start of the next school year.
(5) Next school year cutbacks in funding to Abbott districts that should no longer qualify as such. (Ex: Hoboken)
(6) Cutbacks in Abbott funding. Charter schools and vouchers for private schools may help.
(7) Review of all school constructuction contracts for which bonds were issued.
(8)Reductions in state workforce or furloughs.
(9)End special aid for cities. If Newark can spend $4 million for its City Council, they don't need aid.
(10)End the earned income credit. Money from the income tax is supposed to fund property tax relief. The earned income credit is not property tax relief. The earned income program pays money to single parents at the expense of other taxpayers including married parents. And people who can pull out retirement savings when their incomes drop lose the credit too. The EIC (both federal and state) is also unfair to married couples with children. And, the NJ portion of the credit will only get much bigger with Obama's changes.
(11) No more subsidies for sports stadiums.
10% cut in state workforce
10% salary reduction for all public employees, sate, county, municipal,AND school districts. This includes paid fire and police
increase public employee personal pension contribution
End grandfathering of no benefit cuts
some more - zero based budgeting; make every agency justify its existence, and the need for each employee.
Review job descriptions and performance evaluation of each employee (I'll bet not many have been done).
Analyze the cost benefit ratio of each position paying $50,000 in base pay annually.
Eliminate the many political patronage positions filled by the McGreevey administration (don't forget, they asked every agency, including independent authorities, for lists of every employee earning $80,000 or more - so they could put their own people in those jobs.
Specifically, review the patronage pits at NJ Transit, NJ Turnpike, Garden State Parkway, AC Expressway, Sports Authority, etc.
Challenge and seek to change the supreme court ruling on the abbott districts. Use the 8 billion state budget for education by giving each student the same amount of aid, instead of the abbotts getting 60% of the budget. That would substantially lower the realty tax for other school districts. The abbotts have lived off the rest of the state for years and have produced little results except waste considerable funds. Also any dedicated tax for gasoline and roads should only be used for that purpose and not revert to the general budget as has been done in this state for way too long.
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