New Jersey governor signs $29.4B budget that cuts school aid, suspends property tax rebates

New Jersey Legislature, Governor Christie Fight Over Funds to Abortion Centers
Trenton, NJ (LifeNews.com) -- When Governor Chris Christie ran for office last year, he campaigned on a Pro-Life platform and he is making good on his promise to advocate life. At present, he is skirmishing with Democrats in the state legislature over the millions in Taxpayer funds the state sends Abortion centers for family planning. Although the money doesn't directly fund Abortions, Christie thinks there's little reason to send the Abortion centers $7.5 million when the state...

New Jersey legislature passes Christie's budget
Governor-elect Chris Christie gives a thumbs up sign as he sits with Lt. Governor elect Kim Guadagno at the Robert Treat Academy Charter School Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, in Newark, N.J., the day after he won over Incumbent Jon S. Corzine. Christie said with the visit to the highly successful School, he wanted to highlight his plans to improve education. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) TTRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey’s Democratic-controlled Legislature has approved a $29.4 Billion Budget, sending...

Gov. Chris Christie signs $29.4B N.J. budget into law
The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk Follow Share this story Story tools Enlarge Tim Farrell/The Star-Ledger Budget bill co-sponsor Assemblyman Joseph Malone (R-Burlington) shakes hands with Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan (D-Union) after the Budget passed in the Senate, 41-37, at 1:15AM. N.J. Budget gallery (15 photos) SOUTH RIVER — N.J. Gov. Chris Christie signed a $29.4 Billion Budget into law today during a ceremony in South River Fire Department headquarters after a...

Gov. Chris Christie calls special legislative session on N.J. property tax overhaul
Claire Heininger/Statehouse Bureau Follow Share this story Story tools Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger Governor Chris Christie responds to a question from the audience during a Town Hall Meeting at the Greenwich Twp. Elementary School last week. 40 0 Share TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie today stepped up pressure on the Legislature to consider his proposed Property Tax overhaul, summoning lawmakers back to Trenton for a special session beginning Thursday. “The time to act is now,"...

Gov. Chris Christie is expected to sign N.J. budget into law after legislature passes plan
Statehouse Bureau Staff Follow Share this story Story tools Enlarge Tim Farrell/The Star-Ledger Budget bill co-sponsor Assemblyman Joseph Malone (R-Burlington) shakes hands with Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan (D-Union) after the Budget passed in the Senate, 41-37, at 1:15AM. N.J. Budget gallery (15 photos) Trenton — Gov. Chris Christie is expected to sign his first Budget into law this afternoon, as he continues the final push for a sweeping Property Tax overhaul. The...

Chris Christie vs. the demagogues
I'm a big fan of New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie, who I think is doing an incredibly good and thankless job at working to balance the state's Budget while also cleaning up the public schools in the face of bitter Union opposition. Politico has an interesting interview with the Governor, in which Christie warns the GOP against demagoguery and insists that Republicans and Democrats can work together on a number of issues: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday in an interview with...

Chris Christie Signs New Jersey Budget
Local media in New Jersey reports that the legislature has approved Chris Christie’s Budget and that he has signed it into law: N.J. Gov. Chris Christie signed a $29.4 Billion Budget into law today during a ceremony in South River Fire Department headquarters after a marathon legislative session to push the spending plan through both houses. “This Budget deals responsibly with the fiscal nightmare we inherited and makes the tough and necessary choices to restore fiscal sanity...

President Obama: The Economic Crisis is Not an "Ant"
Today President Obama held a Town Hall Meeting with Americans in Racine, Wisconsin, where he discussed the administration's ongoing efforts to combat the Economic Crisis and encourage Economic Recovery. To date, those efforts have included Tax Cuts for the vast majority of Working Families, expanded and extended Unemployment Benefits to help those hardest hit by the Crisis, support for small businesses, and Recovery Act projects that are fueling jobs and supporting Economic Growth across the...

N.J. Senate passes $29.4B budget
Statehouse Bureau Staff Follow Share this story Story tools Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) (center left) speaks with Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R-Union) (center right) before the start of the Senate session at the Statehouse this afternoon. Also seen conversing are Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-union) (left) and Sen. Christopher "Kip" Bateman (R-Somerset) (right). 23 0 Share TRENTON -- The state Senate has passed Gov. Chris Christie's...

Byrd's Death Gives Dems Excuse for Continued Stockholm Syndrome
This headline from "The New York Times," Byrd’s Death Weakens Democrats’ Frail Majority , perfectly sums up what a broken, insane Bizzaro World the United States Senate has made of Washington, DC. (Note: Before this post was published, the "Times" changed the headline to Byrd’s Death Weakens Democrats’ Shifting Majority .) The headline appears ridiculous either way. Even without the late Robert Byrd, the Democratic Caucus still has 17 more seats in the Senate...

Paterson cuts added education funds
ALBANY, N.Y., June 29 (UPI) -- New York lawmakers are likely to try to override Gov. David A. Paterson 's line item Veto of additional education funds, political observers say. Paterson used his Veto pen after lawmakers restored to a Budget measure hundreds of millions of dollars in education and health spending the Governor wanted to eliminate, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Just hours after the legislature acted, Paterson used his line-item Veto power to cancel the added school aid,...

Skelos: Gov 'Did The Right Thing'
Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos gave a shout-out to Gov. David Paterson today, saying he thought the Governor “had no alternative” but to Veto the spending added to the Budget in the two-way deal struck by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson. “I think the Governor had no alternative,” Skelos told CapTon’s Kaitlyn Ross. “If spending is out of whack, if he can't balance the Budget, then he did the right...

SSP Daily Digest: 6/30

Rendell: Corbett 'tough' to beat
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell is well aware that the Democrat who wants to succeed him is facing an uphill battle. The two-term Democratic Governor said in an interview Wednesday that while he supports nominee Dan Onorato, he knows he’s the “underdog” in the race and the GOP nominee, Attorney General Tom Corbett, “ is still a “tough Candidate to beat.” “He’s behind in all the polls, how far behind depends on which poll you read,” Rendell...

N.J. Senate approves 2.9 percent property tax cap bill
Claire Heininger/Statehouse Bureau Follow Share this story Story tools Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) looks up at the tally board as the Senate votes on bills not related to the Budget at the Statehouse this afternoon. 44 0 Share TRENTON — The state Senate today approved a bill limiting annual Property Tax Increases to 2.9 percent, setting up a showdown with Gov. Chris Christie. The bill passed 23-17 along party lines, with Democrats...

President Obama: The Economic Crisis is Not an "Ant"
Today President Obama held a Town Hall Meeting with Americans in Racine, Wisconsin, where he discussed the administration's ongoing efforts to combat the Economic Crisis and encourage Economic Recovery. To date, those efforts have included Tax Cuts for the vast majority of Working Families, expanded and extended Unemployment Benefits to help those hardest hit by the Crisis, support for small businesses, and Recovery Act projects that are fueling jobs and supporting Economic Growth across the...

UK Eliminating 610,000 Government Jobs
"Britain will shed 610,000 Public- Sector workers over the next five Years as the Coalition Government implements the deepest spending squeeze since World War II, the country’s new Fiscal Watchdog said. The state will employ 4.92 million people by April 2016 compared with 5.53 million in the current Fiscal Year, according to figures released today by the Office for Budget Responsibility. Total employment in The Economy is forecast to rise by 1.34 million to 30.23 million. “There will...

Blame Shelly and John: Legislative bosses made a bad budget situation worse
The damage wreaked by the Legislature's rogue Budget maneuvers is emerging from the fog in Albany , and it's not pretty. For starters, thanks to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver , Senate Democratic Conference chief John Sampson and fellow Democrats , the city schools stand to wind up with less Money - a lot less - than they could have received had lawmakers cooperated with Gov. Paterson . The hit will be a whopping $173 million, with programs for the Homeless facing a $146-million...

Paterson defies Legislature on education aid
ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson wasted little time Monday night vetoing some of the last major spending portions of the Budget that had breezed through the State Legislature just hours earlier. The Governor took out his Veto stamp, with reporters as his witnesses, to strike out $419 million in Education spending he said is politically popular in an election Year but unaffordable for the state. And he said more vetoes are coming — 6,900 of them in line-item Fashion. "Rather than...

Ugly budget -- but a pretty precedent
E.J. McMahon What just happened in Albany, anyway? Did Gov. Paterson skillfully maneuver New York's Legislature into adopting a tighter and more timely State Budget than it was capable of producing on its own? Or did he help the Legislature dig the State Government into an even deeper Fiscal hole, hammering New York's economy with even more new taxes as part of the bargain? The correct answer: Yes. Details were still scarce late yesterday on the cash impact of the appropriations adopted by...

Christie: my trainer wants to brag I'm a client, but 'not yet'
Here's my write-up of one of the most interesting moments in our Chris Christie interview - his discussion about his Weight Loss, how he accomplished it and why he even talked about his lost 35 pounds at all yesterday: He's lost 35 pounds, about half way toward his goal. He has a Personal Trainer and a nutritionist, and works out at least three times a week. And yes, eggs scrambled with scallions and creem cheese were a departure from his normal routine. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who had...

Gov. Chris Christie calls for Republican Party rebranding
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday in an interview with Politico outlined a path for the GOP to rebrand as the party keeping “our eye on the cash register," while also praising some Democrats for taking the right approach to tackling major issues like education. Christie, a darling of Conservatives after staring down Democrats over the Budget and Tax Cuts, demonstrated his own distinct brand of Conservatism over a breakfast interview. Without naming names, the seven-year former...

Chris Christie Calls for Republican Rebranding
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday in an interview with Politico outlined a path for the GOP to rebrand as the party keeping "our eye on the cash register,” while also praising some Democrats for taking the right approach to tackling major issues like education.   Christie, a darling of Conservatives after staring down Democrats over the Budget and Tax Cuts, demonstrated his own distinct brand of Conservatism over a breakfast interview. Without naming names, the seven-year...

Christie: GOP Should Avoid Demagoguery
In a wide ranging interview with Politico , New Jersey Governor Chris Christie warns the Republican party against demagoguery, and points out areas where Conservatives could work with the White House, such as education: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday in an interview with Politico outlined a path for the GOP to rebrand as the party keeping “our eye on the cash register," while also praising some Democrats for taking the right approach to tackling major issues like...

Endit: Christie
Rovzar sees little by way of anchors for the Spitzer-Parker CNN show. The White House isn't talking about Blago trial Testimony saying Obama had a specific pick for his old U.S. Senate seat. And Perez-Pena dissects New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's largely concession-free Budget. Posted by Maggie Haberman 10:27 PM