(TRENTON) – Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald (D-Camden/Burlington) released the following statement Tuesday on Gov. Chris Christie’s budget address:
“In his address today, the Governor decried political partisanship while at the same time giving a Republican stump speech that failed to address New Jersey’s sky-high 9.6 percent unemployment rate and property taxes that have increased on his watch.
“The Governor’s approach seems to be you’re bipartisan when you agree with me but a partisan obstructionist when you disagree. New Jersey’s middle-class needs real solutions, not just endless blame games.
“We heard a lot of crowd-pleasing one-liners today. What we didn’t hear were real solutions to our state’s unemployment crisis or the net property tax burden that has increased over 20 percent in the past three years.
“As we have seen before with this Governor, the devil will be in the details. I look forward to taking a hard look at the actual numbers behind this budget, and I hope they address the real challenges New Jersey is facing.
“These challenges are serious and cannot be papered over by mere slogans. Our 9.6 percent unemployment rate is the fourth highest unemployment rate in the nation, and we rank 47th in economic growth. Property taxes are soaring, and our foreclosure rate is dismal. Our middle-class is shrinking. Safety net programs that are meant to help struggling families have suffered under the governor’s cuts.
“While Hurricane Sandy exacerbated many of these problems, it did not create them. The people of New Jersey need a responsible budget that invests in job creation and property tax relief in order to get our economy back on track.”
“One thing is clear: middle-class families and senior citizens are counting on us to get this budget right.”