Post by fiberisgoodforyou on Jan 8, 2008 9:00:37 GMT -5
Corzine's speech today could make or break his career....
TRENTON — After nearly a year of speculation about how Gov. Jon S. Corzine's administration plans to use the state's toll roads to fix the state's finances, details will emerge today when he makes his State of the State address to the Legislature, a speech that could define his gubernatorial tenure.
As critics — including some in his own party — have pressed Corzine to spell out his plan, which loosely relies on setting up a new public corporation that will borrow against future toll increases to free up cash to pay down existing debt, the governor has refused to release specifics until now.
"New Jersey is at a crossroads here, and we have two very clear options: We can continue down the path that we're on, which has led us to the brink of financial ruin into a situation where we cannot invest in our infrastructure and our future, or we can do something different," Corzine spokeswoman Lilo Stainton said. "The governor will be talking about some new and very bold ideas."
Stainton said motorists will know today how much Corzine is proposing to raise tolls.
Other financial wrinkles the governor is expected to call for include requiring voter approval for new borrowing measures that don't have a dedicated funding source and a freeze on state spending.
Three sources said Corzine will propose a budget no larger than current spending. Last year, the Legislature approved a $33.5 billion spending plan, which has increased to roughly $33.9 billion through supplemental spending.
Sen. Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, who will become Senate majority leader today, said he doesn't know how far the governor will go with this proposal.
"You have to figure out how he's going to do that, because the fixed costs are going up," Sweeney said.
Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, D-Union, state chairman of the Democratic Party, expressed confidence, but would not guarantee, that New Jersey will see a smaller budget this summer.
"We're going to see a smaller budget," said Cryan. He then added, "Anybody who makes a prediction on the budget in January hasn't been around the process enough. But after the success of last year, we have a real possibility."
Regardless, after months of speculation, Corzine's time in office could largely be judged by this afternoon's speech.
"It's probably the most important speech of his career, and he had made it such with all the secrecy," said Montclair State University political scientist Brigid Harrison. "And there were expectations at League of Municipalities, and when that speech was more vague than many people thought, then all the eggs came to rest in the State of the State basket."
Harrison was referring to November's league convention, when Corzine told members of the state's municipalities lobbying organization that he would stake his office on the plan.
"I'm willing to lose my job if that's necessary to set our fiscal house in order," Corzine said last fall.
Word circulated Monday that Corzine may reach out to an old political foe to help with the scheme — Robert Franks, the former Republican congressman Corzine defeated in the 2000 U.S. Senate election.
Neither Stainton nor Franks would confirm nor deny that the former congressman could play a role in the plan.
Franks said he wasn't offered a position with the public benefits corporation that Corzine wants to create to oversee the state's toll roads, but he wouldn't deny that the administration has reached out to him for another role.
"That's not yet been determined. At this point I have not made any commitments on anything," Franks said. "I don't want to engage in that kind of talk because I don't know where this headed yet for sure."
TRENTON — After nearly a year of speculation about how Gov. Jon S. Corzine's administration plans to use the state's toll roads to fix the state's finances, details will emerge today when he makes his State of the State address to the Legislature, a speech that could define his gubernatorial tenure.
As critics — including some in his own party — have pressed Corzine to spell out his plan, which loosely relies on setting up a new public corporation that will borrow against future toll increases to free up cash to pay down existing debt, the governor has refused to release specifics until now.
"New Jersey is at a crossroads here, and we have two very clear options: We can continue down the path that we're on, which has led us to the brink of financial ruin into a situation where we cannot invest in our infrastructure and our future, or we can do something different," Corzine spokeswoman Lilo Stainton said. "The governor will be talking about some new and very bold ideas."
Stainton said motorists will know today how much Corzine is proposing to raise tolls.
Other financial wrinkles the governor is expected to call for include requiring voter approval for new borrowing measures that don't have a dedicated funding source and a freeze on state spending.
Three sources said Corzine will propose a budget no larger than current spending. Last year, the Legislature approved a $33.5 billion spending plan, which has increased to roughly $33.9 billion through supplemental spending.
Sen. Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, who will become Senate majority leader today, said he doesn't know how far the governor will go with this proposal.
"You have to figure out how he's going to do that, because the fixed costs are going up," Sweeney said.
Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, D-Union, state chairman of the Democratic Party, expressed confidence, but would not guarantee, that New Jersey will see a smaller budget this summer.
"We're going to see a smaller budget," said Cryan. He then added, "Anybody who makes a prediction on the budget in January hasn't been around the process enough. But after the success of last year, we have a real possibility."
Regardless, after months of speculation, Corzine's time in office could largely be judged by this afternoon's speech.
"It's probably the most important speech of his career, and he had made it such with all the secrecy," said Montclair State University political scientist Brigid Harrison. "And there were expectations at League of Municipalities, and when that speech was more vague than many people thought, then all the eggs came to rest in the State of the State basket."
Harrison was referring to November's league convention, when Corzine told members of the state's municipalities lobbying organization that he would stake his office on the plan.
"I'm willing to lose my job if that's necessary to set our fiscal house in order," Corzine said last fall.
Word circulated Monday that Corzine may reach out to an old political foe to help with the scheme — Robert Franks, the former Republican congressman Corzine defeated in the 2000 U.S. Senate election.
Neither Stainton nor Franks would confirm nor deny that the former congressman could play a role in the plan.
Franks said he wasn't offered a position with the public benefits corporation that Corzine wants to create to oversee the state's toll roads, but he wouldn't deny that the administration has reached out to him for another role.
"That's not yet been determined. At this point I have not made any commitments on anything," Franks said. "I don't want to engage in that kind of talk because I don't know where this headed yet for sure."
