N.J. treasurer lists range of cuts if Supreme Court rules against Christie in schools funding case

Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerGov. Chris Christie during a press conference at the Statehouse in this March 16 file photo.

TRENTON — State Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff today gave legislators a preview of what might be cut from Gov. Chris Christie's budget if the Supreme Court orders the state to provide an additional $1.6 billion in funds for schools.

Testifying before the Senate Budget Committee, Sidamon-Eristoff said that if the Supreme Court rules against the Christie administration in the Abbott v. Burke case, the state may have to cut funds from "obvious areas" including Medicaid, direct property tax relief, municipal aid, higher education, hospitals, a pre-school program and the PAAD prescription program.

"We've got frankly a lot of areas where we have collectively made an investment over time that are going to have to be on the table," he said. "Everyone in New Jersey should know they're part of the conversation."

The cuts were not yet planned, he said, but those were the programs he would suggest if the governor asked him to find the money.

"We're going to have to find whatever resources we need within our current revenue base," he said. "This governor will not support tax increases, period."

Senators grilled Sidamon-Eristoff on school funding, a proposed millionaire's tax, and other issues during the three-hour hearing. Democrats afterward said they were disappointed with the treasurer's testimony and expressed concern over the wide-ranging cuts floated as an answer to the Abbott issue.

"I was shocked at the level of disrespect that this treasurer showed the committee," said Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex), who had several contentious exchanges with the treasurer. "The elephant in the room is the school funding formula. Their so-called plan is basically everything but the millionaire's tax. They would cut pre-school and Medicare -- their solutions cover everything but the 0.5 percent of the highest wage earners in the state."

Sidamon-Eristoff ruled out any chance that Christie would approve a new tax on the state's highest earners, as Democrats are proposing. He criticized the millionaire's tax as "a self-destructive tax increase that will obliterate our competitive position, drive jobs and investment out of the state and consign us to a cycle of deterioration and retrenchment from which we will never be able to get ourselves out."

Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen) said he was "a little disappointed" that the Christie administration doesn't have a contingency plan to fund Abbott schools if the high court rules against it.

"This is a budget that is clearly impacting the middle class and the poor," he said. "This budget does not go far enough in providing property tax relief to the citizens of New Jersey."