Tuesday, February 22, 2011

NEW JERSEY AND THE “NEW NORMAL”

NEW JERSEY AND THE “NEW NORMAL”

In his State Budget Address Tuesday afternoon, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said, “As a result of the decisions we started with a year ago, we have changed the paradigm. We have established a "New Normal."

In the New Normal, we will shape the budget to make it more sustainable each year, and address priorities that will make New Jersey more successful each year.

We will no longer blindly fund commitments that prior legislators and governors have made. Regardless of whether they were wise, and regardless of whether they yielded programs that even work.

In the New Normal, we can and will stop old commitments, so we can set new priorities to meet New Jersey's 21st century challenges.

Last year's budget, fiscal year 2011, was the beginning of this change. We set priorities and we funded them, in amounts we could afford. We reformed many programs that needed reforming. And we began to refuse to fund what wasn't an absolute priority.

This year's budget continues that model. It is not a budget that funds each and every program at the same level as last year. Instead, we've done something novel. We've actually identified key priorities and put together a budget that funds them.

Now, here's what's crazy about this new bottom-up approach to budgeting: We are simply doing what most people assumed state government had been doing all along.

This is the New Normal in Trenton. The old way of budgeting is over. Today marks the line in the sand that separates the way things used to be, and the way they are going to be. And we will not be going back.”

Tough to argue with that, right? Wrong! In essence, Democratic State Senate President Steve Sweeney is saying, “The new normal? Please, give me a break.”

To hear Sweeney’s take on the new normal click here.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

If the single most important issue to Gov. Christie is to reduce the Budget deficit, then why will he not reinstate the 'millionaires tax' which would bring immediate relief?

If reducing expenses is of the utmost importance, then he should eliminate the Lieutenant Governor position. We cannot afford it.

While he's at it, why not give his salary back to the state, just like his friend Mitt Romney did when Governor of Mass.

If the state workers must make sacrifices,and they should, then it is time for the Governor to practice what he preaches.

J.Smith
Readington Twp.

Townsquare Media NJ said...

Mr. Smith,

Stay tuned on the millionaire's tax. I'm working on a story regarding that right now.

Kevin McArdle

Townsquare Media NJ said...

Mr. Smith,
Check out my new blog on the millionaire's tax with video showing what happened when it was passed last year.

Kevin McArdle