CHALLENGING CHRISTIE’S “ALTERNATIVE FACTS,” BETTER CHOICES NJ ADVOCATES JOIN TOGETHER BEFORE GOVERNOR’S FINAL BUDGET ADDRESS

Advocates decry seven years of disastrous policies for state’s working families

TRENTON — New Jersey’s leading advocates for working families gathered together for a press conference prior to Chris Christie’s final budget address today in Trenton. Better Choices NJ decried Christie’s seven years of malfeasance that has left the state’s working families and the state in general in a state of destruction.

“Chris Christie may say that New Jersey’s financial house is back in order but those are some alternative facts,” said Analilia Mejia, executive director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance. “The real facts about the state’s fiscal reality are quite different. New Jersey has the second lowest credit rating in the nation, following 10 credit downgrades. This bleak fiscal situation is directly attributable to Christie policies that prioritized giving billions of tax dollar breaks to corporations rather than supporting working families.”

Despite $7 billion in corporate welfare, New Jersey lags the nation in job growth. A Rutgers report issued in November warns of increasing economic instability and unemployment for New Jerseyans. Advocates said that Chris Christie is leaving the state in worse state than when he took office, with devastating cuts to education, environment protection, affordable housing, and infrastructure, destabilizing the programs and institutions that working families rely on. They expressed faint hope that Christie’s final budget would address the structural issues faced by the state, as well as anticipating cuts from the federal government under the Trump Administration.

Other speakers at the event made the following remarks:

Wendell Steinhauer, President, New Jersey Education Association —

“NJEA has a message for Governor Christie, the legislature, President Trump, Ms. Betsy DeVos, and Congress: Public schools have been under attack in recent years and we’ve had enough.  NJEA will oppose and fight against any effort to defund New Jersey public schools.”

Staci Berger, President and Chief Executive Officer, Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey —

“New Jersey’s greatest strength is its people and we want everyone who calls New Jersey home to be able to afford to live here. We need the State to make investments into programs like the Lead Hazard Prevention Fund and the Affordable Housing Trust Fund which will get our economy back on track and create a thriving New Jersey. By building safe, quality homes we can afford and revitalizing our communities, we can create jobs, support businesses and boost economic activity all across the state.”

Gordon MacInnes, Chief Executive, New Jersey Public Policy Perspective —

“We hope (against hope) that Gov. Christie will use his last budget message to acknowledge that trickle-down economics, big tax cuts for corporations and the state’s wealthiest families, declining investments in transit and higher education and expanding holes in the safety net are not the answers to New Jersey’s faltering economy, its shrinking middle class and growing numbers of families in poverty. Real opportunities for striving New Jerseyans require investment in our key assets, and strong defense against unraveling the Affordable Care Act and eviscerating public education.”

Jerell Blakeley, Healthy Schools Now and campaign organizer for Work Environment Council —

“Budgets are moral documents and after seven years of Chris Christie budgets, we are in a moral crisis.  Our state can’t continue to give tax giveaways to multi-millionaires while refusing to invest in our public education system. New Jersey’s public infrastructure and general welfare continues to deteriorate. Governor Christie has one final opportunity to make better choices for all of New Jersey’s citizens. We are proud to stand with our partners to fight for budget priorities that will strengthen New Jersey’s economy for all and enhance the safety net for our most vulnerable citizens.”

Jeff Tittel, Director, New Jersey Sierra Club —

“Governor Christie’s war on the environment continues with his slash and burn tactics. In his final year as Governor, he will keep going after environmental protections by cutting funding and staff at the Department of Environmental Protection. He has even closed the Office of Climate Change, putting us more at risk to climate impacts. This is a huge threat to our communities because it will mean there will be no one to make sure our air clean, our water safe, and people are protected from the next storm. While our Governor has given millions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy, our mass transit is crumbling and children are drinking contaminated water. We expect Christie to continue using the Clean Energy Fund as an ATM and Exxon settlement to balance the budget. Christie’s attack on the environment will be even worse with the Trump Administration’s plans to cut millions of dollars in funding. Our governor may only have less than a year left in New Jersey, but the damage of rolling back environmental protections, undercutting jobs, and making us more vulnerable to the next storm will live on for decades.”

Doug O’Malley, Director, Environment New Jersey —

“Dedicated funding for NJ Transit continues to be stalled at the station. Lack of dedicated funding means our trains break down in the (one) tunnel into New York, our buses don’t run as often as they should, and we all pay the most in America for transit service that is worse than our neighbors. Gov. Christie will finish his term as the most anti-transit governor in New Jersey state history. This final state budget will be another case study in what happens when you underfund one of the nation’s best transit systems. You lose riders, you lose residents, you put more cars on our congested roads, and you are left with a transit system that is breaking down and is second-class. NJ Transit riders deserve a world-class system, which requires a dedicated source of funding. One of the most urgent task for the next governor will be to rescue our riders from a generation of neglect under the Christie Administration. But we need the legislature to stand up for our riders this year, and fight for transit funding. NJ Transit riders shouldn’t be stuck at the station, and we need true state leadership to rescue our riders.”

David Pringle, Campaign Director, Clean Water Action —

“Christie and the Democrats in the legislature have to stop repeating the mistakes of the past. Their stealing of over $1 billion in Clean Energy Funds has cost New Jersey 10,000 good jobs and over $3 billion in lost economic growth over the past seven years. It has led to higher electric bills, greater healthcare costs, and too many ER visits and lives lost. It’s not too late to turn this around but we have to start now, especially focusing these funds in low income communities and communities of color, and bring about climate justice too.”

Maura Collinsgru, Health Care Program Director, NJ Citizen Action —

“New Jersey cannot afford for Governor Christie to stay silent while Republicans in Congress make plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act and make deep cuts to Medicaid funding. If their plan succeeds, it will create an economic crisis in our state, depriving our state’s economy of billions, leading to job losses and stripping more than one million people of their health coverage. The Governor’s Budget Address today would be  the obvious time for Christie to speak up for our health care and warn against the budgetary and moral implications of repealing the Affordable Care Act.”