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Philly.com 'Possible snag in Christie budget plan: may need some legislative OK' 'Gov. Chris Christie says he will need N.J. Legislature to move money into general funds' The Associated Press
'Gov. Chris Christie warns N.J. districts school aid could be cut 15 percent in next budget' Statehouse Bureau Staff
'N.J. bill would let parents move their kids to out-of-district public schools' By The Associated Press/This bill is to be heard in the Assembly Education Committee today 2-18-10
Philly.com -
Possible snag in Christie budget plan: may need some legislative OK
Gov. Christie said this morning he may need lawmaker approval to enact some of his budget plans, a change from earlier indications that he could move single-handedly to patch the state's budget gap. Christie said he can freeze spending using his executive authority, but to move some of that money to other uses and close budget holes, he needs approval from the Democratically-controlled Legislature. "We’ve done what we need to do to freeze the spending. We will need some legislative help at the end of the year to move these balances from one fund to another, but I don’t expect that the Legislature would act irresponsibly," Christie said in a morning appearance on NJ 101.5 FM.
Gov. Chris Christie says he will need N.J. Legislature to move money into general funds
February 17, 2010, 6:15PM
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TRENTON -- Less than a week after ordering a spending freeze to close a $2.2 billion budget gap, Gov. Chris Christie acknowledged today that he cannot complete the midyear budget-balancing moves by executive order alone and needs approval from the Democratic Legislature.
The executive order by the new Republican governor freezing aid to schools, hospitals, colleges and transit surprised Democrats in the Legislature and endangered the bipartisan good will that characterized Christie's first three weeks in office.
Christie said in a televised speech last Thursday that he didn't need legislation to rebalance the budget. Afterward, Democratic leaders balked at being cut out of the process.
Christie maintained today that he has the power to stop $1.6 billion in spending, but acknowledged for the first time that he would need legislation to move some of the money into the general fund to balance the budget.
The Republican told Millennium Radio 101.5 FM that he doesn't have an agreement with the Democrats to move a bill. However, Christie said he's confident lawmakers will "do the responsible thing," or "come up with another idea that saves that kind of money."
Assemblyman Lou Greenwald, chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, said the Legislature may not have to sign off if an alternative was reached. For example, some have suggested that the state use $475 million of its $500 million surplus rather than withhold $475 million in aid to school districts.
Greenwald convened a hearing today to allow members of the public to air their concerns about the pending cuts.
"The decisions that he made with the stroke of a pen on Thursday can have dramatic impacts if you don't include the transparency we've strived for," said Greenwald. "You heard from people today who would have their funds cut for programs that impact the education of a child who was succeeding but who cannot see."
The daylong hearing included testimony from school administrators, health providers and others who decried the cuts.
School administrators said Christie's plan to withhold school aid will trigger local property tax increases. Hospital administrators said a $12 million cut in charity care would result in an additional $12 million loss in federal matching grants. And, 13-year-old Rocco Fiorentino of Voorhees spoke out on issues affecting the blind and visually impaired.
The Christie administration said it relied on an oral opinion from the Attorney General's office that the cuts could be accomplished by executive order. The AG's office referred questions to the governor's office.
Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said that while the governor was within his power to freeze the money, it was determined that legislative approval would be needed in order to move about $380 million of the frozen money into the general fund for use in offsetting the budget shortfall.
"We certainly hope that lawmakers would want to work with the governor to balance the budget," Drewniak said.
Gov. Jon Corzine proposed $300 million in similar education cuts before leaving office, but the Democrat said his proposal needed approval from the Legislature. No bill was introduced before Corzine's term ended in January.
Greenwald said he wanted to examine the $3.8 billion in funds from which cuts also could be made. He again urged the new administration to take advantage of the collective experience and wisdom of the legislative budget committees before making final adjustments to the current budget.
Besides balancing the current budget, Christie must introduce his spending proposal for fiscal year 2011 on March 16. The new budget year begins July 1.
Gov. Chris Christie warns N.J. districts school aid could be cut 15 percent in next budget
By Statehouse Bureau Staff
February 17, 2010, 7:00PM
BERKELEY HEIGHTS — With school districts still reeling from the midyear budget cuts he announced last week, Gov. Chris Christie said today he has asked districts to prepare for a 15 percent reduction in state aid in the budget he will propose next month.
If enacted, it would be the largest-ever cut in state aid to schools, officials said. Frank Belluscio, spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association, said it would be the first reduction in aid to schools of any kind in at least 30 years.
Christie and Acting Education Commissioner Bret Schundler said at a meeting with school officials in Union County that their goal is to keep K-12 education aid flat in the upcoming budget, which Christie will propose March 16 and must be signed into law by July 1. But they said, with an $11 billion deficit looming, they wanted to give advance warning so school officials would not be caught off guard if steep cuts are necessary.
“This is about us telling the truth,” the Republican governor said. “I’m not going to spend this state further into debt and I’m not going to tell you a happy story on July 1st, only to come to you in February and say, ‘Well, more bad news.’ I think that’s much more unfair to school districts.”
Total formula aid to schools is currently about $7.5 billion, according to a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education. A cut of 15 percent of that would be about $1.1 billion.
“I don’t know how we would survive it,” said Perth Amboy Superintendent John Rodecker. “There would be massive layoffs. It would in turn mean that everything we’ve built up to this point, to make us what I consider to be an outstanding school district, would be lost.”
He said a 15 percent cut in aid for next year would amount to $19 million, on top of the $15 million cut his urban district was told to weather last week. Perth Amboy serves nearly 10,000 children, and has a budget of about $184 million this year.
As part of widespread cuts that were criticized by dozens of people yesterday during a day-long Assembly Budget Committee hearing, Christie last week froze $475 million in aid to schools this year, forcing districts to spend their surpluses instead.
Somerville School Superintendent Carolyn Leary said the governor “already killed us” with that cut. A further 15 percent reduction could mean a loss of about $1 million more next year, district officials said. “We have a bare-bones budget, we have no frills,” Leary said.
Christie said the state will provide “tools” for school districts to control salary, pension and benefit costs — “whether it’s through regulatory relief, or additional legislation that gives you a more level playing field for negotiations.”
A 15 percent cut, if imposed across the board, would have a more dramatic impact on districts that receive a big share of their revenue from the state. Perth Amboy gets more than 70 percent of its revenue in state aid; in Chatham, about 85 percent comes from local property taxes.
Other midyear cuts — including to hospitals, colleges and NJ Transit — were highlighted at a a marathon Assembly Budget Committee hearing. Christie acknowledged he will need legislative approval for some of the moves, but challenged ruling Democrats to pass their own alternatives to solve a $2.2 billion deficit.
For nearly nine hours, lawmakers heard from caregivers, hospital officials, school administrators, environmental groups, social service agencies, and a blind 13-year-old boy who said that without state funding he may not be able to attend the local school where he is thriving. Under the wide-ranging cuts, aid to blind and visually impaired children would be reduced by $152,000.
Rocco Fiorentino, a seventh-grader at Voorhees Middle School in Voorhees, said his Braille Note computer, textbooks and independent-living training will disappear with Christie’s cuts.
“You may not understand how difficult it is to walk in my shoes,” he said.
By Jeanette Rundquist and Claire Heininger/Statehouse Bureau
Staff writers Kristen Alloway, Lisa Fleisher and Peggy Ackermann contributed to this report.
N.J. bill would let parents move their kids to out-of-district public schools
By The Associated Press
February 14, 2010, 11:25AM
TRENTON -- Legislation that would create a permanent statewide public school choice program will go before an Assembly panel this week.
The measure would allow parents to move their children to schools located across district lines. The new program would replace a pilot program that expired in 2005, though many participating districts continue to informally honor previously agreed-to student arrangements.
The education committee is due to consider the measure Thursday.
If approved, schools seeking to participate in the program would apply to the state education commissioner, detailing services available to their students. The applications also would include an accounting of fiscal issues schools could face by taking part in the program.
Students wishing to transfer to new schools would have to submit applications to the receiving districts, which would review them and make decisions based in part on the student's interests in their school's offerings. Schools also would be allowed to hold lotteries if the number of applications outpace the number of available seats.
Sending districts would have to provide or pay for transportation for elementary school pupils who live more than two miles from the receiving district, and for secondary school students who live more than 2½ miles from their new school. Sending districts, though, would not have to pay these costs if the student's new school is more than 20 miles from their home.
"Public school choice is an important step to ensuring each child has the ability to attend a school that is best-suited to their individual needs and talents," said Assemblywoman Mila Jasey (D-South Orange). "More importantly, public school choice programs can improve educational outcomes for students without seeing taxpayer money funneled out of New Jersey's strong public school system."
Jasey, a former member of the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education, is sponsoring the measure with Joan Voss (D-Fort Lee), who is a retired educator.
Voss believes the proposed system would be "fair and equitable" for students and schools.
"No doubt, some students who find themselves stifled at their current school would prosper in a neighboring school district," Voss said. "But we also need to be fair and mindful of the necessity to balance the needs of students with costs ultimately borne by taxpayers."
