{"id":1493,"date":"2016-07-07T13:45:18","date_gmt":"2016-07-07T17:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musingsbymichael.com\/blog\/?p=1493"},"modified":"2016-07-07T13:51:32","modified_gmt":"2016-07-07T17:51:32","slug":"new-jersey-state-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.musingsbymichael.com\/blog\/2016\/07\/07\/new-jersey-state-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey State Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NJ<\/a><\/p>\n

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Now that the New Jersey State budget has passed and has been signed into law I thought it would be a good topic to talk about. Governor Christie as usual for him has line item vetoed those things he either disagrees with or thinks that the money should not be spent on. All in the name of his integrity, what about ours?<\/span><\/p>\n

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There are of course the typical appropriations for the state pension system, property tax relief, aid to schools, etc. The following is from the Citizen\u2019s Guide to the Budget<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

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People Served\/Items Purchased <\/em>Helping Those in Need<\/strong><\/span>
\n 119,000,000 ** Subsidized School Lunches<\/span>
\n 8,600,000 ** Hunger Initiative — Food Purchased (lbs.)<\/span>
\n 2,741,025 * Subsidized Drugs for Seniors and Disabled: PAAD Annual <\/span>
\n Prescriptions<\/span>
\n 1,797,121 * Persons Receiving Health Care through NJ FamilyCare<\/span>
\n 367,091 * Senior Gold Annual Prescriptions<\/span>
\n 325,065 * Individuals Receiving Mental Health Services (Community Programs)<\/span>
\n 302,345 * Energy Assistance — Tenants and Homeowners Served<\/span>
\n 183,440 * Children Receiving Health Care through the Children\u2019s Health Insurance<\/span>
\n Program<\/span>
\n 179,714 Children Receiving Services from Division of Child Protection and<\/span>
\n Permanency Services (DCP&P)<\/span>
\n 80,567 Temporary Assistance to Needy Families — Recipients<\/span>
\n 23,277 Adults with Disabilities Served (Community Programs )<\/span>
\n 22,423 Adoption Subsidies\/Foster Care: Average Daily Populations<\/span>
\n 4,262 * State Rental Assistance — Families Served
\n<\/span>
\n Protecting the Public’s Safety<\/strong><\/span>
\n 790,600 * State Police Investigations (Criminal, Accident, and General)<\/span>
\n 249,525 * Fire, Housing and Construction Code Inspections<\/span>
\n 102,000 * State Police — Instances of Aid to Motorists<\/span>
\n 19,811 * Inmates Supervised (Annual Average — Excludes Community<\/span>
\n Programs)<\/span>
\n 15,975 Parolees Supervised<\/span>
\n 1,500 Forest Fire Responses<\/span>
\n 1,225 State-owned Bridge Safety Inspections<\/span>
\n 595 * Criminal Indictments Obtained — Criminal Justice
\n<\/span>
\n Preserving the Environment<\/strong><\/span>
\n 17,000,000 ** Parks Visitors Served<\/span>
\n 11,300 * Acres of Open Space Preserved:<\/span>
\n 3,300 Via Green Acres<\/span>
\n 8,000 Via Farmland Acres<\/span>
\n 5,919 * Air and Water Pollution Inspections
\n<\/span>
\n People Served\/Items Purchased <\/em>Protecting the Public’s Health<\/strong><\/span>
\n 287,000 ** Women, Infants, and Children \u2013 Health Care Recipients<\/span>
\n 220,000 Children Screened for Lead Poisoning<\/span>
\n 95,000 ** AIDS Clients Tested and Counseled<\/span>
\n 90,000 Number of Licensed Long Term Care Beds\/Slots<\/span>
\n 50,000 * Homes Tested for Radon<\/span>
\n 25,000 ** Breast Cancer and Cervical Cancer Screenings<\/span>
\n 3,600 Helicopter Response Missions for Traumatic Injuries<\/span>
\n 785 * Long Term Care Facilities Licensed
\n<\/span>
\n Transportation Services<\/strong><\/span>
\n 477,463 Average Daily Mass Transit Ridership<\/span>
\n 13,341 Miles of Roads Maintained<\/span>
\n 8,226 Emergency and After-Hour Call Responses<\/span>
\n 2,945 * Traffic Signals Maintained<\/span>
\n 900 Highway Lanes Under Construction<\/span>
\n 495 Lane Miles Resurfaced
\n<\/span>
\n Serving Businesses<\/strong><\/span>
\n 557,303 * State Professional Boards — Total Regulated Licenses<\/span>
\n 91,500 Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons Licensed<\/span>
\n 93,500 Insurance Licenses Issued<\/span>
\n 6,800 Currently Participating Businesses — Urban Enterprise Zones<\/span>
\n 5,800 Banking Licenses Issued
\n<\/span>
\n Educating Our Children<\/strong><\/span>
\n 1,415,468 Total Enrollment (Public School System)<\/span>
\n 1,290,878 * Standardized Tests Administered<\/span>
\n 791,178 Pupils Transported — Public\/Nonpublic<\/span>
\n 202,549 Special Ed Enrollment<\/span>
\n 144,965 Kindergarten\/Preschool Enrollment<\/span>
\n 37,401 Charter School Enrollment<\/span>
\n 26,402 County Vocational Ed Enrollment
\n<\/span>
\n People Served\/Items Purchased <\/em>Higher Education Student Assistance<\/strong><\/span>
\n 174,359 New Jersey College Loans to State Students (NJCLASS)<\/span>
\n 76,018 Tuition Aid Grants (TAG, Full and Part-Time)<\/span>
\n 2,360 NJ Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship<\/span>
\n (NJSTARS I & II) Grants<\/span>
\n * Data reported is related to a Key Performance Indicator in<\/span>
\n the Core Mission Summaries section of the Citizen\u2019s Guide.<\/span>
\n ** Data reported is also published as a Key Performance<\/span>
\n Indicator in the Core Mission Summaries section of the<\/span>
\n Citizen\u2019s Guide.<\/span><\/p>\n

Direct Property Tax Relief<\/strong><\/span>
\n 695,300 Homestead Benefit Program (Recipients)<\/span>
\n 211,000 Veterans Claiming a Property TaxDeduction<\/span>
\n 171,000 Senior and Disabled Property TaxFreeze (Recipients)<\/span>
\n 46,800 Seniors and Disabled Claiming a Property Tax Deduction
\n<\/span>
\n Protecting our Residents<\/strong><\/span>
\n 28,464 * Mental Health Advocacy — Representation of Individuals at<\/span>
\n Civil Commitment Hearings — New Cases<\/span>
\n 5,800 Elder Advocacy — Nursing Home\/Boarding Home\/Other<\/span>
\n Facility Visits<\/span>
\n 5,600 Elder Advocacy — On-Site Investigations Regarding<\/span>
\n Care\/Abuse\/Neglect or Patient Funds<\/span>
\n 2,154 Rate Counsel — Representation of Ratepayers on Cases Involving Utilities and Cable Television<\/span><\/p>\n

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If your eyes are not crossing by now then continue reading, otherwise take a short break before continuing. Please note that the above are not dollar amounts but a count of people or miles or things. They make it seem that this budget helps a lot of people to live well here in New Jersey, but do you think so?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Now how about the amounts that are going to be spent? Well there is a payment to the state pension plan of $1.3 billion, a business retention program funded at $2.3 billion, a distribution for property tax relief of over $16 billion, $12.8 billion for our schools and I could go on. But I am sure you get the point I am making; everything is in the billions of dollars. Makes me want to say a billion here a billion there and who really knows if it gets where it is needed! I am quite sure that you get the point; very large amounts of money are involved. The State of New Jersey\u2019s taxpayer\u2019s money is what is being spent without any auditing each year to make sure that it is going where it is supposed to.<\/span><\/p>\n

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If you were to look at the budget for this state<\/a> you will begin to realize that it is more than likely that no legislator has ever gone through it line by line and just blindly believes what he or she is told by their experts. My take is that the budget must be examined line by line by some outside experts and compared to what is really spent to see if the budget was realistic and I bet you that they would find that it is not.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What I am getting at is that we the people of New Jersey have to demand that we are shown that our monies are not being wasted. So I am calling for the creation of an independent state auditor department to insure that our monies are being used as per the budget and not being wasted.<\/span><\/p>\n

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That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike<\/span><\/p>\n

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