As fully anticipated, Gov. Christie has proposed a budget that slashes school aid, tax rebates and skipping pension payments. According to an article in The Press of Atlantic City, March 16, 2010 by Diane D'Amico and Juliet Fletcher, Staff Writers, With New Jerseyans shouldering the highest tax burden in the nation, Gov. Chris Christie proposed a budget that cuts aid to schools, tax rebates to homeowners, laying off state workers and skipping pension payments in his first budget address to lawmakers.
Christie, who ousted Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine in November by running on a platform of smaller government, outlined his $29.3 billion budget proposal before a joint session of the Legislature, telling lawmakers that if they continue to increase taxes, people will leave.
Christie's 2011 budget is slightly smaller than the current one, but given the growing costs of benefits and inflation and the loss of $1.3 billion in stimulus money, he had to make about $3 billion in cuts.
To balance the budget, which he is constitutionally required to do, Christie must also close a $10.7 billion deficit.
He will do that by slashing education money by more than $1 billion - $820 million for K-12 schools and $175 million for higher education - and skipping $3 billion in pension payments into a system that is already underfunded by $46 billion.
State funds to schools will actually increase a bit next year by $70 million. But the lack of federal stimulus funds means school districts will still lose some $820 million in funds they received this year.
The exact impact on individual districts has not yet been released. Gov. Chris Christie said in his budget message Tuesday that no district will lose more in formula aid than 5 percent of its current budget.
State aid to college will also be cut, as will some student aid and scholarship programs. To read full article and more of his proposed cuts, click this link.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Gov. Christie proposes budget that slashes school aid, rebate checks and more.
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3 comments:
We are all stuck on the same sinking boat if we own property in N.J.
Highest taxes in the nation and now we will get even less benefits for more of our money.
The people who are lucky enough to still have jobs and the homeowners who can't afford to take a large financial hit if they sell their homes, will just have to struggle through this mess.
If I was unemployed or renting, I would pack up my family and move out of this state immediately. As it is now, I will have to make a long term plan but I will eventually escape the burdens that the long term mismanagement, corruption and bureaucracy of New Jersey have placed on my back.
We have to start the financial clean up. The best thing the Christie could do right now is try to bring the jobs back into the state.
He could offer the corporations a very low tax rate to entice them to come back. We need to get good paying jobs for the people.
We have one of the highest unemployment rates and we are not going to get out of this mess by paying state money for people to sit at home.
Start buying only American products. It's the only way to compete with the cheap foreign labor rates.
Not long ago,everyone was laughing at Perot. He warned that if NAFTA was passed, you would hear the giant sucking sound of all our industry leaving this country. He was right and our Federal Government has failed to protect our economy.
You hear the phrase"New World Order" thrown around by the politicians. To me, it means making everyone equal and turning us into a third world country. Sadly, the plan is working.
RE: Start buying only American products.
Unfortunately, today almost everything is made elsewhere, even in countries that have higher wages and much better benefits than most Americans.
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