During today’s special Assembly Budget Committee hearing on the Christie administration’s plans to cut Medicaid funding for New Jersey’s neediest residents, Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Bergen/Essex/Passaic) noted the administration’s pattern of consistently reaching into the pockets of the state’s working poor to balance the budget.
“This plan is both lacking in conscience and details. From what little we’ve been able to ascertain from the administration, it’s clear that they are once again intent on balancing our budget on the backs of our neediest residents.
“Equally disconcerting is the apparent lack of detail still available on the administration’s plans. With just over a month left until we must pass a balanced budget, the administration has yet to apply to the federal government for this waiver, which may or may not even be approved, and if it is, it might be well after the fiscal year 2012 budget cycle concludes, having little impact on our current situation.
“The only thing clear is that the Christie administration’s philosophy on balancing the state’s budget is one born out of a moral vacuum,” said Schaer, Vice Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee.