Bill sitting on governor's desk would restore the grant by taking surplus cash from N.J. employee prescription account
Gov. Chris Christie introduced Dr. Poonam Alaigh as his nominee for Health Commissioner during a press conference in Trenton, in this January file photo.TRENTON — With the state Treasurer declining to appear at the Senate health committee hearing today, the state health commissioner was pressed to explain why Gov. Chris Christie eliminated a $7.5 million state grant that supported family planning clinics.
A bill sitting on the governor's desk would restore the $7.5 million by taking surplus cash from state employee prescription account — an idea suggested by the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services. But on Thursday, Christie in a closed-door meeting with Weinberg and Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Union), said the Treasurer told him the idea wouldn't fly.
Health, Human Services and Senior Services Committee Chairwoman Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) invited Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff to explain why, but he didn't show.
"He had a very busy schedule today and the scheduling conflicts could not be resolved," said Andy Pratt, the treasurer's spokesman.
Pratt also disputed the Office of Legislative Services proposal to fund the clinics through the state worker prescription drug account. "I dont know where OLS got its calculation from, but to argue there is excess money in the budget is highly unlikely. We need to make sure we have the money there to fund the program."
Weinberg said she left the hearing disappointed.
"Unfortunately, our request for information was met with deafening silence," Weinberg said. "The only thing we can take from the Treasurer's absence is that there are no specific complaints about our funding source, besides the fact that it would go to family planning and women's health agencies which are ideologically opposed by some of the more right-leaning elected officials in the state."
Christie has said his decision to eliminate the grant was based on fiscal reasons, and had nothing to do with his opposition to abortion rights, or because Planned Parenthood clinics are a major is recipient of the grant money.
Health and Senior Services Commissioner Poonam Alaigh reiterated the state's fiscal woes drove the decision to eliminate the funding. "These were not decisions we wanted to make. Unfortunately, this is simply the fiscal reality we had to confront," Alaigh said.
The commissioner assured the committee that uninsured women do have other alternatives to the family planning clinics. The state spent $40 million this year to fund more than 90 community clinics, formally known as federally qualified health centers, that provide general health services to hundreds of thousands of uninsured people each year.
Weinberg said the federal centers need more financial assistance from the state if they are expected to pick up the slack for the 58 family planning clinics, which served 136,000 people last year.
"Every report we get from the federally qualified health clinics says they are at their limit," she said.