(TRENTON) – Assemblyman Benjie E. Wimberly (D-Bergen, Passaic) released the following statement Monday after the Assembly Budget Committee heard from the Department of Health on reduced funding for cancer research:
“Last year, $1 million for the New Jersey State Commission on Cancer Research was diverted to the general fund.
“Now, this fiscal year, we see a similar proposed action, along with a reduction of funding for the South Jersey Cancer Program of Camden and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Together, the total of reductions amounts to nearly $30 million.
“These are drastic cuts that put individuals, their families and life-saving programs and research at-risk.
“This cancer funding and research should not be on the expendable list in any budget. However, it seems to have made the non-essential list under this administration two years in a row.”