Monmouth County Assembly members Eric Houghtaling and Joann Downey released the following statement after attending Governor Christie’s budget address Tuesday at the State House:
“We came to Trenton hopeful to change the dialogue and to begin the hard bipartisan work of making our state more affordable for the middle-class families who built it. Only now we recognize that the job of bringing fresh perspectives to the issues we face will be left to us in the Legislature, because the governor is merely turning to old ideas.
“Absent a mention of reforming our out-of-sync inheritance and estate taxes, which we proudly support, the middle-class once again received nothing from the governor but lip service and a stream of rhetoric pointing fingers every which way.
“He said virtually nothing about the property tax crisis that continues to strangle middle-class communities. The middle-class property tax relief programs he already gutted will remain empty shells. And, while he may have announced that school aid will increase slightly, until we see the full district-by-district figures we remain skeptical that it will provide any real property tax relief.”