Senator Declan O’Scanlon, (R-Monmouth), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, make the following remarks in response to Governor Phil Murphy’s proposed budget:
Watch O’Scanlon deliver his remarks:
“This budget won’t lift up the middle class. It will leave generations of New Jersey residents with no hope for a prosperous future.
“Even if the Governor’s rosy projections – of both revenue and savings – are accurate, we are still only a fraction of the way out of the hole we’re in.
“We can’t tax our way out of this mess. Without major reforms, it is a very real possibility that young public workers won’t even have a pension by the time they retire.
“I urge Governor Murphy to come to the table and hammer out a compromise with us. There is no other option,” Senator Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) said.
In an email to his Republican colleagues in the NJ Senate on Monday, Senator Michael Doherty said that the Assembly Republican leadership’s support of increasing the gas tax is what led to the loss of four seats in the lower chamber in last week’s election.
Rutgers-Eagleton conducted a poll in October on the gas tax. See attachment and an extract of the results below.
Why did Republican Assembly leadership come out in support of a gas tax increase?
R Assembly candidates should have all come out 100% against a gas tax increase.
66% of voters oppose a gas tax increase.
We had 69% of Independent voters and 73% of Republican voters on our side.
Even 57% of Democrat voters oppose the gas tax increase.
We wouldn’t have lost any seats if R’s campaigned on being 100% against a gas tax increase.
“We didn’t have to lose any seats and could have picked up a few,” Doherty said told MoreMonmouthMusings, “We had no message.”
Doherty said that he has not heard back from any of his Senate colleagues.
2TRENTON — Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. unveiled a new bill Friday that aims to ends a tug-of-war between Gov. Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney over gun control and mental health legislation. Kean (R-Union) described the draft legislation as a more comprehensive bill that combines the original requirement that police be alerted when… Read the rest of this entry »
Governor Chris Christie reacted to the New Jersey Supreme Court decision that he has the authority to cut pension payments from the State Budget and that the political branches of government…the Governor and Legislature…not the Court…must “deal with one another to forge a solution to the tenuous financial status of New Jersey’s pension funding in a way that comports with the strictures of our constitution,” by calling for “all interested parties” to come together and solve the New Jersey’s pension and benefit crisis “once and for all.”
“This decision is an important victory not only for our taxpayers who simply cannot afford these unsustainably high costs, but for limited, constitutional government that recognizes the proper role of the executive and legislative branches of government,” the Governor said in a statement issued by his office, “The Court’s position is clear, as is mine, it is time to move forward and work together to find a tangible, long-term solution to make our pension system and public employee health benefit costs affordable and sustainable for generations to come. In light of today’s decision, I urge all interested parties to come back to the table and partner with me to finally solve this problem once and for all.”
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth, the Assembly Republican Budget Officer, said,
TRENTON — A bill that would criminalize dogfighting in New Jersey and allow prosecutors to treat those who participate in dogfights like mobsters cleared a legislative hurdle Thursday. Technically, dogfighting isn’t a crime in New Jersey, though prosecutors can charge those who participate in the act under animal cruelty laws. The measure ( S736) approved by… Read the rest of this entry »
TRENTON — State Sen. Joseph Kyrillos did not vote to buck the governor today when Democrats unsuccessfully tried to override his veto of the Port Authority legislation. But Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), who had been a personal friend of Christie’s and one of his chief allies in the Legislature, today demonstrated just how much their relationship has deteriorated… Read the rest of this entry »
TRENTON — Despite overwhelming bi-partisan support for a Port Authority reform bill approved in November, the state Senate today failed to override Gov. Chris Christie’s veto of the bill. After nearly an hour of impassioned debate, Senators voted 25-14 for the override, two votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to overturn the veto. State Sen.… Read the rest of this entry »
Gov. Chris Christie has a remarkable winning streak going, one unmatched by any other New Jersey governor. He’s vetoed more than 350 bills during his five-plus years in Trenton, according to a Wall Street Journal count. And, in spite of the fact that the Legislature is controlled by the Democrats, a party other than his own,… Read the rest of this entry »
Why do roads, bridges and transit projects cost so much to build in New Jersey? State Senator Michael Doherty, R-Warren, has proposed a bill to try and answer that question and recommend ways to cut those costs. His bill to form a State Transportation Analysis Task Force will attempt to answer findings in a recent Reason… Read the rest of this entry »
