Lawmakers representing the 14th Legislative District — Senator Linda R. Greenstein and Assemblymen Wayne P. DeAngelo and Daniel R. Benson — today issued the following reaction to Governor Christie’s budget address.
“As with any budget proposal, the devil is in the details. We need to carefully review the specifics in the Governor’s budget beyond the large-scale rhetoric of today’s speech to determine how his spending proposal will affect middle-class New Jerseyans and our most vulnerable residents. We must conduct an exhaustive review of the Governor’s proposal in order to ensure that we are spending our tax dollars wisely without enacting hidden taxes or fee hikes that will overburden middle-class taxpayers further,” said Greenstein (D-Plainsboro), who serves as a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.
“With more than nine percent of New Jerseyans out of work, and almost a quarter of the men and women in the construction and building trades professions also unemployed, the core tenant of this year’s budget needs to be about getting people back to work. Going forward, as we review the budget in detail, we must constantly ask ourselves the questions ‘Will this keep someone employed?’ or ‘How will this create a new, long-term job for working class New Jerseyans?’ Job creation must be a top spending priority,” said DeAngelo (D-Hamilton), who serves as deputy speaker pro tempore.
“This budget continues the assault on working families and seniors in New Jersey. The state budget should not be balanced on the backs of low and middle-income families through cuts to critical programs. We need to protect our senior citizens and the disabled while providing tax relief to working families who continue to struggle in this recession. I look forward to working with the Governor and my colleagues in the Legislature to steer this budget back to helping rather than hurting the people of the 14th District,” said Benson (D-Hamilton).
Greenstein, DeAngelo and Benson represent the 14th Legislative District which consists of portions of Middlesex and Mercer counties.