Corzine Gave Us the Truth and He Gave Us A Plan
From the Web,  January 10, 2008

Governor Corzine delivered the State of the State address Tuesday to a packed house in the chambers of the State Assembly. During the hour-long speech he revealed his long-awaited financial restructuring and debt reduction initiative; formerly referred to as the "asset monetization plan". The Governor’s plan focuses solely on finding a real and long-lasting solution to the crippling debt facing the people of New Jersey. Through the four-part plan, the Administration hopes to create a permanent source of funding for the Transportation Trust Fund, which is due to expire in 2011.

Democratic State Chairman Joe Cryan applauded the Governor’s speech and plan, "The Governor today gave all of us in New Jersey a straightforward and sobering diagnosis of a fiscal crisis that has been years in the making and that, if left to itself, could choke off our financial well being and deny us future opportunities.

"The Governor gave us the truth and he gave us a plan. He has also given us what could be the historic opportunity to find real and lasting solutions.”

The key components of the initiative are as follows: freeze state spending for next year at this year’s level; cap all future levels of spending so that they will not exceed revenues; use the value of our toll roads to permanently fund statewide transportation improvements and pay down approximately 50% of the State’s debt; and mandate that all future debt without a dedicated revenue source be approved by voters before it is issued.