Peters, Stanfield keep awareness on state budget; call out district senator for deception

TRENTON – Assemblyman Ryan Peters and Assemblywoman Jean Stanfield called out fellow
8th District legislator, Senator Dawn Addiego, for voting yes on a state budget with $4.5 billion in
borrowing after publicly coming out against the borrowing weeks before.

Peters and Stanfield have made regular comments on the budget since it was signed over a
week ago in order to keep the public eye on the 2021 spending plan that Democratic legislators
in Trenton voted to pass.

“We can’t take the pressure off or let people forget that in the middle of a pandemic, where
many people lost their livelihoods, Democrats in Trenton thought it was acceptable to raise
taxes, raise spending and borrow $4.5 billion that will eventually have to be paid back by
property taxpayers,” Peters said.

“The only way we’re going to see a change in the attitude of New Jersey politicians is by
consistently reminding the people of how they are reaching into their pockets and taking more of
their money,” he continued

“We need to hold politicians to their word when they say they are trying to make life better for
New Jersey taxpayers. That’s why Jean and I find it unacceptable that the senator, who
represents the same constituents we do, would put out a statement saying she stands with
taxpayers and would not support the Democrat borrowing plan and then vote in favor of the
budget with borrowing a month later,” Peters said.

The borrowing plan put forth by Governor Murphy and the Democratic caucus members called
for $4.5 billion, saying they needed it to pay for emergencies brought on by the Covid pandemic.
However, half of that money is slated to go to surplus and other large chunks are paying for
“Christmas Tree” items in the 2021 budget, like $4 million for a golf course in North Jersey.

The borrowing will be paid off over the course of decades, and if the state doesn’t have enough
money to pay it in its general fund, the payments are then tied to an increase in the sales tax
and a direct fee to property tax payers. New Jersey has the second-worst bond rating in
America behind Illinois and is routinely ranked at the bottom of the nation for debt obligations.

When the borrowing plan was announced, Addiego spoke out against it in a press release,
saying, “Asking New Jersey taxpayers to solely shoulder what equates to a 35-year tax increase
without the transparency that accompanies a public referendum is the absolute wrong way to
approach this crisis.”

She then voted in favor of it when it came time to vote for the budget.

“Ryan and I take our roles as representatives seriously, and because of that, we feel it is
imperative people in our district know when they are getting misled by someone they voted in to
represent them,” Stanfield said.

“There is now a pattern of Senator Addiego telling the 8th District people in statements and
press releases that she won’t vote for a specific tax or spending and doing the exact opposite. A
couple years ago, when rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft were faced with a new tax in
New Jersey, the senator released a video exclaiming, ‘Don’t tax my ride.’ Days later, she voted
yes on the tax. This is unacceptable and the deceit reared its head again during this budget
process,” Stanfield continued.

“This year’s budget could perhaps be the most consequential spending plan of our lifetimes.
With thousands of New Jersey families struggling, we had a chance to hold the line on taxes
and spending to allow our overburdened residents the chance to recover. Instead, the
Democratic caucus, including our senator, chose to borrow billions and tie an albatross around
the neck of millions of taxpayers for years to come,” Stanfield said.