Sweeney Promises To Fight For Anti-Poverty Measures

Says budget “cannot be balanced on the backs of the poor”

Trenton – At a State House press conference featuring fellow lawmakers and anti-poverty advocates, Senate President Steve Sweeney today promised to fight for essential “safety net” programs as part of this year’s budget.

“People often recognize that budgeting is about priorities, but when it comes to protecting our most vulnerable residents, it’s one thing to say it and another thing to do it,” said Senate President Sweeney.  “This will be the eighth budget we have passed during my time as Senate President and I am proud to say whether it’s protecting housing assistance, job training, programs for those with special needs or defending the environment, the Senate has never backed away from that challenge.  The budget we pass this year will be no different.”

The press conference was organized by the Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey, one of the state’s leading organizations dedicated to fighting poverty in all of its forms.  Executive Director Renee Wolf Koubiadis thanked the Senate President for attending and reminded those in attendance of how many people in New Jersey continue to depend on safety net programs.

“New Jersey continues to remain a high cost of living state and the income needed to keep pace is far above what’s considered the ‘poverty line’ nationwide,” said Koubiadis.  “Because of this, programs like those the Senate President is committed to supporting are so crucial to helping people climb out of poverty.  We thank him for attending today’s event, but applaud him for never backing down from what we believe should be our core mission, empowering everyone in New Jersey to succeed.”

During the last fiscal year, the budget passed by the Senate and signed into law funded several critical programs that now face proposed cuts in the Governor’s proposed budget.  Those include cuts to Legal Services (cut by $5 million from FY2017), domestic violence and sexual assault prevention (cut by $5 million from FY2017) and cancer research (cut by $1 million from FY2017) among others.