(TRENTON) — As the Assembly Budget Committee today heard testimony on the proposed budget for the Department of Health and Senior Services, Assemblywoman Nellie Pou (D-Bergen/Passaic) released the following statement on the governor’s continued failure to support funding for women’s health care:
“For the second straight year, the administration has decided that access to health care is unimportant for the working poor women of this state. In the long run, this decision will cost the state more money and lead to countless tragedies for women who illnesses could have been treated.
“With unemployment still hovering at near record levels, this is no time to be balancing our budget on the backs of the working poor and the middle class. Now more than ever, affordable access to these critical health services is needed.
“It is tragic that the ‘new normal’ under this governor means adjusting to a lower standard of living unless you are among the wealthiest in this state.”