(TRENTON) – Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver on Friday hailed passage by the U.S. Senate of legislation that would help preserve teaching jobs and health care services for Medicaid recipients in New Jersey.
Oliver (D-Essex/Passaic) praised U.S. Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez (both D-N.J.) for helping spur the passage and expressed hope the U.S. House of Representatives would soon follow suit.
“Public education in New Jersey has taken many hits in the last eight months, but this funding is a key step toward keeping teachers on the job educating our children and building our future,” Oliver said. “This would save 3,200 school jobs and also preserve vital health care for New Jerseyans with low incomes and reDests. These are important values to New Jersey.”
Under the bill, New Jersey would receive $268 million in education funding and $399 million for Medicaid assistance.
“As we continue working to move through this difficult, education and health care initiatives like this are of vital importance,” Oliver said. “It keeps people employed and delivers help to families who have lost their health insurance and are struggling to make ends meet.”
Oliver noted the funding for the bill comes largely from ending tax breaks for CEOs that ship American jobs overseas.
“This is a fiscally responsible investment in our children and our families,” Oliver said.
