| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| Gov.-elect Chris Christie compiles plans to slash N.J. spending up to 25 percent |
| 2009-12-23 |
| Gov.-elect Chris Christie and his transition aides are compiling plans to slash New Jersey state spending and state programs by as much as 25 percent in response to the continuous flow of dim financial news from the New Jersey Treasury Department, according to an internal document obtained by The Star-Ledger. Even before he takes office next month, his team is looking for programs that can be eliminated entirely and calling on state administrators to find untapped federal funds to cover whatever they possibly can. "Absent strong action, revenues and expenditures will likely remain out of balance for the foreseeable future," according to a Dec. 18 memo from the state Office of Management and Budget to all cabinet members and agency directors. The letter was dispatched "at the request of the governor-elect's transition team" and said the deadline for responses is Jan. 6, nearly two weeks before Christie is to be sworn in. Christie, a Republican, defeated Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine in last month's election and has been critical of Corzine's spending practices and budget forecasts. The latest cuts, aimed at closing a budget gap Christie estimates at $9.5 billion, would come on top of cuts ordered by Corzine to close a $1 billion hole in the current $29 billion budget. The governor has yet to reveal those plans but expects to do so before Christmas. Corzine has also frozen "discretionary" state aid to municipalities and arts groups, forcing them to scramble to pay bills. Unlike the federal government, state law requires Trenton's spending and revenue to be in balance; deficits are not allowed. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 What percentage of NJ voters are on the receiving end of state spending (direct or indirect)? Can't win elections by cutting or capping spending. Especially when most of the spending is set into contracts. Same story regardless of jurisdiction. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-12-23 16:50 |
| #2 Suggestions to make that 25 percent a start and not an end: 1) Eliminate defined benefit public pensions. Switch all to defined contributions plans. All employees without exception get switched to the new plans on Jan 1. That begins to fix your pension plan underfunding. This is one of the biggest drivers of state budgets, so fix it now. 2) Freeze all funds to public education at their current levels. Funding has been going up nationally by what, 8 to 10 percent a year? Are the schools 8 to 10 percent better each year? Didn't think so. Almost all of the increased funding goes into salaries for unionized school employees. I like teachers as much as anyone, but they're doing okay right now. Freeze funds and make the school boards live within their means. 3) Root out every state-level earmark; promise to veto all state legislation that has so much as a single earmark. Time for the legislators to get with it. 4) Freeze Medicaid at current levels. Yup, I'm in health care, but you have to freeze Medicaid at current levels. Most Medicaid money goes to nursing homes, not hospitals and doctors. That system needs cleaning up. 5) Freeze funding to prisons at current levels. Prison cells are a resource: they're expensive to build, expensive to maintain, expensive to operate. Now's the time to go through the prisons and release the people who don't belong (just about anyone convicted of a non-violent crime). Then you can figure out how many prison cells you need for the violent offenders who really need to be put away forever. The non-violent ones get community service, lots and lots of community service. 6) No funding for any pet projects. Period. You want high-speed rail? Wait another generation. You want a new medical school? Wait another generation. You want to buy up land for a new state park? Wait another generation. Now's the time to hunker down. 7) Privatize as much of state administration as possible. Just because you need to offer a public service doesn't mean you need public servants to run it. Indiana spun off the administration of their DMV to IBM. Costs less, better service, people are happy (except the public employee unions). That's where I'd go if I were Christie, in addition to any other cost savings he has in mind. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2009-12-23 13:30 |
| #1 Send him a set of Ginzu knives for Christmass. |
| Posted by: newc 2009-12-23 01:43 |