TRENTON — With all 120 legislative seats up for grabs in the fall, Assembly Democrats plan to spend the summer hammering at Gov. Chris Christie’s cuts to social welfare services and aid to struggling cities. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) announced Wednesday that her chamber would hold committee hearings throughout the summer to examine the effects of the cuts....
Senate President Stephen Sweeney, left, listens to Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver during a press conference in this file photo. TRENTON — With all 120 legislative seats up for grabs in the fall, Assembly Democrats plan to spend the summer hammering at Gov. Chris Christie’s cuts to social welfare services and aid to struggling cities.
Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) announced Wednesday that her chamber would hold committee hearings throughout the summer to examine the effects of the cuts.
"The governor may think it’s acceptable to cut help for abused children, health care for women and working families, college aid, nursing homes and endanger public safety, but he may be the only one who thinks that way," Oliver said in a statement.
Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan (D-Union) said, "The Assembly is known as the People's House, and it will live up to that reputation by taking a hard look at these cuts and what can be done to repair the damage wrought by the governor to our middle class and poor."
Last week, Christie made about $1 billion in cuts to the $30.6 billion budget Democrats sent him, which went beyond the budget reductions he first proposed in February.
The decision to hold hearings effectively delays a vote to override the vetoes until closer to the Nov. 8 election, if at all. Oliver said the hearings would "help determine what can be done to fix the governor’s cuts."
The hearings also give Democrats a platform to attack Christie and Republican lawmakers.
A spokesman for the Assembly Democrats, Tom Hester Jr., denied any political motivations, however. "This isn’t about politics," he insisted. "This is about doing what can be done to fix the damage the governor has done to the middle class and the poor."
Unlike the Assembly, a spokesman for Senate Democrats, Derek Roseman, said "the Senate president has made it clear he will ask the Senate to override these vetoes as soon as possible, before essential programs go underfunded or unfunded."
State Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), a close friend of Christie, said not a single Republican would vote to override a veto.
A spokesman for the governor, who is on vacation, derided the Assembly hearings as "political theater."
"Unless the Democrats in the Legislature just found a money tree behind the Statehouse, they still have no way to pay for their election-year spending spree," said spokesman Michael Drewniak.
Amid the complaining from Democrats, what has gone unmentioned is the fact that the governor did not reverse all of their additions to his budget.
He let stand $167 million in aid for schools as well as $35.5 million in social welfare programs, which includes $31.5 million in additional funds for the General Assistance program, which would cut grants by $15 a month; and $4 million Democrats put back into FamilyCare, the health insurance program for the working poor.
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• Small pool of NJ FamilyCare members spared from Gov. Christie budget cuts
• Outrage and disappointment follow Gov. Christie's line-item veto of Democrats' $30.6B budget