CORZINE DID NOT CONSULT AGRICULTURE EXPERTS REGARDING CLOSING

Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose said she was stunned to learn at Thursday Assembly Budget Committee hearing that it appears no one with expertise in the agriculture industry was consulted as part of the process for eliminating the Department of Agriculture. She reiterated her stance that the detriments of losing the department will outweigh any possible cost savings.

“If the administration is going to eliminate a department that oversees such an important industry, I would hope they consulted experts in that industry,” said McHose, R-Sussex, Morris and Hunterdon. “The impression I got from Thursday’s testimony was that no such effort was made and that no experts on farming played any role in this decision.”

McHose noted that when state Treasurer David Rousseau was asked whether anyone directly involved in the decision to close the Agriculture Department had knowledge of the farming industry, the treasurer was unable to answer affirmatively.

The assemblywoman went on to suggest that a better way to achieve cost savings might be to move some functions in the Department of Environmental Protection’s massive bureaucracy over to the smaller, more efficient Agriculture Department. These functions include parks and forestry, fish and wildlife, and shellfish and marine fisheries management.

“Since these functions are consistent with the work already done within the department and affect many of the same constituent groups the department deals with it, would make sense to move these functions,” McHose said. “This could allow for savings at DEP without adding to the costs in the Agriculture Department.”

#####

CORZINE FAILS TO APPT. KEY BD. MEMBERS FOR TTF OVERSIGHT

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin called on Governor Jon Corzine to appoint remaining Financial Policy Review Board members so the board can begin its task of overseeing the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) reauthorized in 2006. 

“It is outrageous that this administration keeps promising accountability, but when it comes time to take even the simplest steps to actually create oversight, nothing happens. The governor is apparently too busy selling his toll plan to provide oversight for 1.6 billion a year the state is already authorized to borrow and spend.” 

In March 2006 the Legislature reauthorized the Transportation Trust Fund. The annual capital program authorization was increased from $950 million to $1.6 billion per year for fiscal years 2007 through 2011 (5 years). The annual bonding cap was increased from $650 million to $1.6 billion for that same period. 

As part of the legislation, a Financial Policy Review Board was created to monitor and certify that the Trust Fund Authority adheres to its bonding limitation; does not spend  more than the amount spent in FY 2007 on permitted maintenance; and does not appropriate more than 1.6 billion in total in any year.

“In the two years since the TTF was reauthorized this Board has not yet convened because only two of the five appointments have been made. It is absurd that the governor has yet to appoint enough members to constitute a quorum. This means that there is effectively no oversight of the Transportation Trust Fund and the billions that it is empowered to borrow and spend,” continued Handlin, R-Monmouth and Middlesex. 

“The Financial Policy Review Board was a major portion of the law and I believe its chief intent was to restore the trust in the Transportation Trust Fund. Without the board we have no assurances that the caps are being observed and that our critical dollars are being spent responsibly,” concluded Handlin.

#####

BACK