Breakdown How the Governor's Budget Veto Hurt School Districts
- NJ Spotlight: Senate Democrats launch website that takes the measure of state aid under the Christie administration.
- Chairman Wisniewski congratulated Senate President Sweeney on holding the Governor accountable for his cruel cuts to education funding with the launch of the new NJ Senate Democrats Education Funding Website. From the website:While Governor Christie likes to point out that many school districts have received more aid this year than last year, he's only telling you part of
the story. In many cases, districts have lost millions in State support since Governor Christie came into office, and few have been funded at the level required under the school funding formula approved in 2008.
- Education Law Center: When Governor Christie took his red pen to the Democrats’ FY12 State Budget, he removed full funding of the state school aid formula for the 2011-12 school year. As a result, 550 districts are now off-formula for the second straight year. While compelled by the NJ Supreme Court to fully fund the Abbott districts under the School Funding Reform Act (SFRA), the governor vetoed most of the additional aid the Democrats’ budget allocated to non-Abbott districts. The bulk of the additional school aid would have gone to mostly moderate- and middle-income districts in suburban and rural areas of the state -- districts that have repeatedly been denied the funding they are entitled to under the SFRA. The final budget provides only a small increase over 2010-11 aid levels: approximately 2% of each district’s 2009-10 total budget. This is far below the amount cut in 2010-11, and provides no increase to move districts towards adequacy, as required under the SFRA.
Christie's Charm Offensive Won't Work On Seniors
- Star Ledger Editorial: "Seniors are smart. They know they were better off before he was elected. They know Christie's property tax relief cuts have made it tougher for them to stay in their homes, that he has protected millionaires over fixed-income residents. And they won't be fooled by the charm. Because with age comes wisdom."
- The Bray: Christie's Charm Offensive Won't Work on Seniors.
More Flights Revealed in Coptergate
- Courier Post: State Police Aviation Unit records obtained late last week via a Courier-Post Open Public Records Act request show Christie actually flew on state helicopters 37 times between January 2010 and May 31, 2011, including a few trips to the governor's shore house. That's four more flights than the office released on June 2.
- USA Today: Christie failed to disclose Chopper trips.
- Philadelphia Inquirer: Remember Coptergate? Dems Do!
- Chairman Wisniewski reacted to the additional flights being revealed: “Chris Christie’s story continues to change as more information is exposed. A real straight talker would could come clean and not try to hide the truth.”
- Following the latest revelations, Assemblywoman Quijano has asked Republican Assembly Minority Leader DeCroce again to sign on as a sponsor of legislation she has introduced prohibiting the use of state helicopters for personal and political events.
- Assemblyman Moriarty expressed concern over the Governor's use of the helicopter.
Christie's Claims that Democrats Cut MVC Deemed FALSE
Politifact: PolitiFact New Jersey found that Christie was wrong about the budget cut -- nearly seven times wrong. In the wake of computer problems at Motor Vehicle Commission offices and other state agencies, Christie claimed the Democrats had cut $35 million for Information Technology improvements. We rate the statement False.
- Chairman of the Assembly Transporation Committee Wisniewski reacted to Christie's claims: "There's more than enough money that the MVC generates every year to fund all of their technology needs so it's just a non-starter to say that we don't have the money..."
- Following a hearing on the MVC delays, Senator Gordon said: “I did not hear anything that would allay the concerns of the MVC customer having to go tomorrow and not having to stand in a long line. I didn’t hear anything that would suggest that there will be an immediate fix to this. I heard about things that will be in place in September.” Gordon said he found it “hard to believe” that the $179 million the Christie administration had “diverted” from the agency’s coffers over the last two years did not have an impact on operations.
- Senator Sarlo: "I don't know about all of you, but I have had no complaints from DMV until the last two years, until some of the significant budget cuts occurred. DMV was cleaned up."
- Assemblyman Greenwald on Christie raiding motor vehicle funding: "If the Governor had wanted MVC to have additional funding for technology investments, he would have simply reduced the amount of the raid, rather than increasing it."
- Assemblywoman Wagner: “Motorists across this state had become accustomed to brutal waits at motor vehicle agencies, until the reforms of decade ago changed that reality. Now, motor vehicle agencies are again a mess under Governor Christie."
NJDSC Women's StepUp training and Women's Equality Event
If you haven't signed up yet for this intensive, interactive one-day training for women with some of our region's leading political strategists, space is going fast. The New Jersey Democratic State Committee is proud to present our 5th Annual STEP-UP Democratic Women's Advanced Training on Saturday, August 13, 2011. StepUpNJ@njdems.org for more information.
- Please join the New Jersey Democratic State Committee for our 3rd Annual Women’s Equality Event honoring County Chairs Charlotte DeFilippo, Elizabeth Muoio, Marguerite Schaffer and Lois Zarish at the home of Marcia Marley on Thursday, August 25th from 6 to 8 pm. Contributions are $91 commemorating 91 years since women received the right to vote. To purchase tickets please click here or to RSVP or for more information, please email Heather at hdejong@njdems.org or call 609-392-3367. You can view the full invitation here.
Study: Taxes Don't Make NJ Millionaires Flee
- Star Ledger: In each of the last two years, Gov. Chris Christie has vetoed Democratic bills to raise taxes on incomes over $1 million, saying it would drive wealthy people from the state. As it turns out, this is another suspect piece of conservative dogma. A new study from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities deals several body blows to the governor’s theory.
- New Jersey Newsroom: In the study, sociologists at Stanford University looked at the effect of New Jersey's 2004 tax increase on people making more than $500,000 per year. They found that while the number of people leaving the state in this income group increased very slightly after the tax increase went into effect, the number was insignificant because people unaffected by the new tax were moving at a similar rate. The end result was that the new tax rate produced a large increase in revenue for the state without prompting people to leave.
The Safety Net Unravels
- The Record Editorial on Christie's Legal aid cuts: When one social-services thread after another is pulled out, the safety net unravels. While top-tier earners are saved from any tax increases, those at the bottom are left with nowhere to turn. The message they get from the state is, "We don’t care."
Letter Raises Questions about Christie cuts to Wynona's House
- AP: A letter sent to a Newark-based center for sexually abused children is calling into question whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie knew that federal funds were available to keep it from closing when he cut 75 percent of its state funding.
Debt Deal Reached To Avoid Default
- PolitickerNJ: Lautenberg and Menendez among just six Senate Dems who voted against debt deal.
- Chairman Wisniewski on the agreement to avoid default: “The hijacking of the Republican Party by the Tea Party, with their unwillingness to compromise, helped push our country to the brink of default, putting the economic future of our nation and many families in peril," said Wisniewski. "In causing the downgrade in America's bond rating, Tea Party members have shown that their top priority is holding our country hostage to their extreme ideology. The Republicans have shown once again that their preaching of shared sacrifice is nothing more than a talking point they are unwilling to practice. The cost to our national credibility is not something the world markets will soon forget. With unemployment in NJ at 9.5%, attention must now be turned to creating jobs and putting New Jerseyans back to work.”
- Congressman Pallone at Blue Jersey: Why I voted against the debt bill.
- Congressman Holt at the State Column: “As poor as this deal is on its merits, I am even more troubled by the precedent it sets. The Tea Party and their enablers have, by taking the American economy hostage, transformed a routine budgetary authorization into the most dramatic reshaping of government in decades. Today’s deal establishes that government-by-hostage-negotiation is a legitimate, effective way to achieve one’s political ends. I am frightened by what this means for the future of our democracy.”
- Congressman Payne: “While I understand that failure to raise the debt ceiling would have been catastrophic to our country, I do not agree that spending cuts alone is the answer. As we continue to debate ways to cut spending in order to reduce the deficit, we have to take a moment and think about the real impact this will have on our seniors, children, working families and other vulnerable communities. It is unconscionable to believe that my Republican colleagues can turn their heads to the fact that a large segment of our population continues to suffer because the wealthy refuses to share the sacrifices.”
- Congressman Rothman: "The extreme right wing of the Republican Party has held our nation hostage, threatening catastrophic default while demanding savage cuts to Social Security, Medicare, student loans and other vital programs. They were unwilling to impose even a single penny of shared responsibility on Big Oil or corporations that are making record profits and paying little or nothing in taxes, and those Americans making millions and billions in income each year, who are enjoying their tenth year of tax cuts. As angry as I am at the right-wing Republican extremists for holding our country hostage to their ideology that demands the destruction of our nation’s social safety net, supporting this deal is the only responsible choice I can make.”
- Congressman Pascrell: "Voting for this legislation was the right thing to do, but it wasn't the easy thing to do. We cannot plunge the country into further economic chaos. Interest rates are high enough, not only for constituents in my district but throughout the country.
- Congressman Sires: “While this plan is not perfect, it is necessary in order to remove the cloud of uncertainty over our economy at this critical time.”
- Video: Senator Menendez took to the floor to call out Republican's deliberate obstruction of the debt negotiations. He emphasized the need for Republicans to realize that governing is not about falling on your sword for unattainable partisan political goals, but about sensible compromise to solve problems for the American people.
“It’s another form of taxation”
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Star Ledger: After years of steady declines, New Jersey’s notoriously high auto insurance rates are on the rise again. And, to stem the tide, the Christie administration is proposing new rules that would limit the kinds of medical care injured drivers can receive under their auto policies. Phyllis Salowe-Kaye, director of the advocacy group New Jersey Citizen Action, said the changes would hurt motorists. “It’s just another hit at the consumer,” she said. “It’s another form of taxation.”
Congressional Corner
Senators Lautenberg and Menendez said that a deal brokered by Senate Democrats will reopen the FAA & put hundreds of New Jerseyans back on the job.
- Senators Lautenberg and Menendez applauded Secretary Ray LaHood on a $4.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation in support of the National Transit Institute (NTI) at Rutgers. Since 1991, NTI has served as the premiere research, training, and educational institute in the country dedicated to public transportation. This award will enable critical enhancements to NTI’s ongoing work, including safety and security training, procurement, planning and advanced technologies. Congressman Pallone also praised the grants.
- Senator Lautenberg announced the Senate unanimously approved his resolution to designate September 2011 as Campus Fire Safety Month. Earlier this year, Lautenberg co-sponsored the Campus Fire Safety Education Act with Congressman Pascrell. That bill provides for competitive grants that colleges can apply for to start or grow fire safety education programs.
- NJBiz: Senator Menendez said 37 New Jersey hospitals will receive a supplemental $88 million from Medicare in 2012 as a result of an effort he led on behalf of the state's congressional delegation to retain a Medicare rule that recognizes the cost of operating hospitals in all urban states where there is no designated rural hospital.
- Senator Lautenberg applauded the new Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) guidelines requiring health insurance plans to cover women’s preventive services, including birth control, without charging a copay.
- Video: Senator Menendez on the need to focus on creating jobs.
- Congressman Pallone has introduced a resolution in the US House of Representatives, condemning the extremist violence against the Kashmiri Pandits since 1989. The resolution condemns the extremist violence, lack of religious freedom, and human rights violations committed against Kashmiri Pandits, which they have endured for more than two decades.
- The Record Editorial praised Congressman Pascrell for his push for fair compensation of ground zero first responders.
- A bill to honor the late Marine Sergeant Matthew J. Fenton, introduced by Congressman Rothman, passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote. The entire New Jersey Congressional delegation joined Congressman Rothman as cosponsors.
- Congressman Payne endorsed President Obama’s new Presidential initiative directing a comprehensive review to strengthen the United States’ ability to prevent mass atrocities.
- Congressman Andrews tweeted: #GOP wants more cuts in exchange for unemployment benefits ext 4 #MiddleClass-Looks like another hostage situation.
Under the Dome
Legislation to allocate voter-approved open-space preservation funding for recreational development and conservation projects was signed into law. The three-bill package spends $156.3 million on green space preservation. The funding will be divided into $84.5 million in grants for municipalities and county governments to buy green space, $14.8 million for non-profit groups to buy land and $57 million for the state to purchase land. The funding will be used to purchase parks, fields and farmland as well as for land buys near Barnegat Bay and in the Highlands. The state portion will include expanding parks, forest and wildlife areas and will also be used to purchase land in flood-prone areas.
- Legislators hailed approval of funds to deliver cleaner, safer drinking water. The bipartisan legislation will make $400 million available for projects that clean up water used for fishing and swimming. An additional $250 million will be available for drinking water projects. Cities, counties and utilities across the state already have submitted more than 170 applications.
- NJ 101.5: Assemblywoman Wagner is sponsoring a bill she's calling the, "Retaining Our Best and Brightest Loan Redemption Program." It is designed to offer incentives to encourage academically successful graduates of New Jersey colleges and universities to remain in the State upon graduation, and to academically successful New Jersey residents who attend out-of-State colleges and universities to return to the State upon graduation.
- Support for the Consumer Credit Fairness Act.
- Senator Van Drew praised the NJ Turnpike authority for sending “the top people” to a public information session at Stockton State College and said the session answered a good number of his questions, including that reforestation would take place and by providing tree-related accident statistics.
- Assemblyman Chivukula continues to promote renewable energy efforts.
- Senator Smith and Assemblyman McKeon joined a coalition of environmental groups gathered outside the Highlands Council’s offices to mark the seventh anniversary of the Highlands Act’s passage.
- Senator Madden commended a South Jersey researcher for their medical breakthrough in Alzheimer's Disease.
- Senator Rice said that the inability of the Newark School Advisory Board to conduct any business without the consent of the state’s Acting Commission of Education has disenfranchised local voters, who now are subject to “property taxation without representation.”
- Senator Madden commended a South Jersey researcher for their medical breakthrough in Alzheimer's Disease.
- Senator Rice said that the inability of the Newark School Advisory Board to conduct any business without the consent of the state’s Acting Commission of Education has disenfranchised local voters, who now are subject to “property taxation without representation.”
- Video: Assemblyman McKeon discussed his legislation to clarify the need for New Jersey to continue to participate in the 10-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), despite actions from Gov. Christie and the Executive Branch seeking to withdraw from the multi-state coalition.
- Assemblywoman Wagner cited a recent legislative audit of the State Office of Management and Budget as further evidence for the need to act on her legislation to institute paperless payrolls for all public employees and retirees, a move that would provide substantial savings for taxpayers.
- Under current law, the State of New Jersey withholds lottery winnings from parents who are behind in child support payments. A new bill would amends the existing procedure regarding annuity jackpot winnings to expand its application to casino and racetrack winnings. The measure's sponsor calls it a matter of fairness.
Upcoming Events
- August 6- August 14
Visit the Sussex County Democratic Committee booth
at the New Jersey State Fair/Sussex County Farm and Horse Show in Augusta, NJ. - August 7
4:00pm
Jamaican Ceremony 49th Anniversary of Independence
United Presbyterian Church, 375 Van Houten St., Paterson - August 8
11:00 AM
Golf outing in Support of Bill Shea for Freeholder
Eagle Oaks Golf and Country Club, 20 Shore Oak Drive, Farmingdale
$250/guest, $500/sponsor, $1,000/silver sponsor and $2,500 gold sponsor
$50 guest dinner with paying golf participant, $75 for dinner only (no golf)
Please RSVP or for more info call Ron Principe at 732.670.4134 or email ronprincipe@gmail.com or votebillshea@gmail.com
6:00 PM
Monmouth Dems Social Media Training
Chairman's Conference Room, Airport Plaza, 1390 State Highway 36, Suite 105, Hazlet NJ 07730
This is a free event. Please RSVP to john@monmouthdems.org - August 9
5:00 PM
Fundraiser for Assembly Candidate Joe Camarota
Casa Giussepe Ristorante, 487 Route 27, Iselin
$500/pp
For More Info or to RSVP: Bernie Hvozdovic at 609-430-0065 or bhvozdovic@hvozlaw.com
6:00-9:00 PM
Summer Celebration in Support of Senator Nia Gill, Senate President Pro Tempore
Tapastry, “Classic Spanish Tapas”, 12 Church St., Montclair
RSVP Dannielle, 201-636-2176
$50/pp - August 10
5:30-7:30 PM
Colin Bell for Freeholder Fundraiser
Carriage House, Pitney Rd., Galloway - August 11
Fashion Show in support of Bill Shea for Freeholder
Lakeside Manor, Route 36, Hazlet
$40/supporter, $80/sponsor, $150/gold sponsor
Please make checks payable to Friends of Bill Shea for Freeholder, P.O. Box 155, Hazlet, New Jersey 07730
Please RSVP to Maryellen Principe at 732.720.9597
6:00-8:00 PM
Ed McGettigan for County Clerk Fundraiser
Sandi Point Coastal Bistro, 908 Shore Rd., Somers Point - August 13
Step Up! 2011 Democratic Women’s Advanced Training
New Brunswick, NJ
For More Info or to RSVP: StepUpNJ@njdems.org
6:00-8:00 PM
Cocktail Party in support of 11th District Senate Candidate Raymond Santiago
Home of Thomas P. Mannix and Kevin R. Pilla, 1333 Locust Drive, Asbury Park
$50/individual, $100/Sponsor, $250/Co-Host
Please RSVP to Grace at grace.paras@gmail.com or 732.540.2293 - August 14
3:00-7:00 PM
Fundraiser for Karen Carrol for Assembly
The Lake-side home of Ursula Szypryt, 56 ½ Johnson St, Matawan
RSVP: 732-970-7226
$100/pp - August 18:
7:00-9:00 PM
Somerset County Democrats’ Campaign Office Opening Party
19 South Main St, Suite 3, Manville
6:00-10:00 PM
35th District Assembly Candidate Shavonda Sumter
Ladies Night Out Comedy Showcase
Brownstone, Paterson
$75/pp - August 19
7:00-11:00 PM
A Night of Comedy supporting Kevin Lavan and Patrick Short for 13th District Assembly
Bayshore Senior Recreation Center, 100 Main Street, Keansburg
$40/supporter, $75/friend and $100/co-host
RSVP to Michael Morris at mikeinmiddletown@gmail.com or 732.687.0028
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We will continue to have updates about news from our elected officials and the many campaigns across the state. There will certainly be more to come next week. Have a great weekend.
Sincerely,
John Wisniewski, Chairman
New Jersey Democratic State Committee
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