TRENTON — If politics is theater, then Gov. Chris Christie and Assembly Democrats offered the public well-orchestrated productions with much different themes today. In the category of feel-good, Christie visited the home of Perth Amboy retiree Sultana Kizides to tout how the budget he signed last month put more than $2,400 into her wallet through separate property tax rebate...
N.J. Gov. Chris Christie visited retiree Sultana Kizides today to tout the benefits of the senior freeze plan in the 2011 budget, while Democrats heard testimony on the budget cuts to adult day care centers and nursing homes.TRENTON — If politics is theater, then Gov. Chris Christie and Assembly Democrats offered the public well-orchestrated productions with much different themes today.
In the category of feel-good, Christie visited the home of Perth Amboy retiree Sultana Kizides to tout how the budget he signed last month put more than $2,400 into her wallet through separate property tax rebate programs.
“It's good to see seniors are better off today under the program we put in place in the last 18 months, than they were before,” said Christie, who met with Kizides privately for nearly 40 minutes before opening up the meeting to the press.
Meanwhile, about 40 miles away in Trenton, Assembly Democrats chose a more dramatic theme by inviting a number of witnesses to speak before the Assembly Budget Committee to offer tear-jerking testimony on how the governor’s cuts target the disadvantaged.
One of the witnesses was Shea Rhonda Drew, who has been in a wheelchair since she was 18. She recently received her bachelor's degree and credited her success to the Cheshire Home, an adult day care center that, like others, saw its state reimbursement rates cut by Christie.
“I came to the Cheshire home and I was only 18, when I got hurt. I didn’t know where else to go,” said Drew as she fought back tears. “But they helped me to accomplish all the goals that I accomplished today.”
The two scenes encapsulate the partisan tone in Trenton in recent weeks. Republicans have cast Democrats as reckless spenders who have used the poor and disadvantaged as political props, while Democrats have labeled their opponents as friends of the rich and unsympathetic to the poor and disadvantaged.
Christie used the visit to shine a light on the positives of the budget. He said Kizides had a check for over $2,000 from the state's Senior Freeze program, and said she will receive $415 under the homestead rebate program, far above what she got last year.
Kizides said she quickly deposited the Senior Freeze check, "because we never know what's coming, and what has to be paid back to the city and the state."
The Senior Freeze program freezes property taxes at the amount paid when a homeowner is age 65. Senior citizens earning less than $70,000 are reimbursed for taxes paid above that amount.
The increase in the Senior Freeze program was one of the few items Democrats introduced in their own budget that was not vetoed by Christie. The governor did not call for increasing funding for the program in his initial budget.
Christie shrugged over a question about ongoing Assembly hearings, saying legislators were talking in Trenton while he was out talking to people affected by state policy.
"They'll have their theater in Trenton," the Governor said. "She (Kizides) put her money in the bank and that's what I'm trying to do with the state's money."
Democrats did try to restore funding to nursing homes and adult day care centers, but Christie blocked their attempt with his veto pen. He said theirs was not enough money.
Nursing home operators, nurses and patients said the cuts will result in loss of services and jobs.
“We will have to implement across the board cuts,” Joe Bogdan, Administrator, Hamilton Continuing Care Center, a nursing home in Hamilton Township, Mercer County.
Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex), said, “Supporting nursing homes and specialty care nursing facilities for our senior citizens is a core New Jersey value. We understand the budget difficulties, but our responsible plan made caring for our most vulnerable seniors a priority, as it should always be.”