(TRENTON) – Assemblyman Benjie E. Wimberly (D-Passaic/Bergen) released the following statement Monday as the Assembly Budget Committee heard from the state attorney general:
“Senseless violence continues to plague our cities, as funding cuts by the administration have helped lead to unprecedented layoffs of law enforcement. Paterson is among the cities in a distressed state. It’s suffering from gun violence amid the layoff of more than 100 police officers. Residents now fear for their safety daily. This is a formula for disaster with the upcoming summer months.
“When Democrats tried to counter some of this loss with a new $50 million public safety aid program, the governor refused. He rejected this responsible investment in New Jersey’s communities while doing little to help combat the public safety crisis his municipal aid cuts created.
“We cannot continue to set up our communities for failure with violence. This is not a partisan issue. This is an issue of people and lives. Budgets are about dollars and cents, but we need to look at the human side, too.”