U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D., N.J.) is scheduled to participate as one of the expert players in tomorrow's health-care policy summit at the White House, and he said that the very existence of such a meeting is a sign that President Obama's push to reform the system has a good chance of success.
"It is the direct opposite of the last attempt to fix health care in this country, the Clinton effort in 1993," Andrews said today in a conference call with reporters. "What was flawed about that process was that it was private and not very inclusive. This is open."
Dozens of policy experts, business and labor leaders, health insurers, members of Congress and White House staffers are to meet to discuss general principles for reform - how to reduce the costs of health care and provide coverage for the nation's 47 million uninsured..
"I think there will be a consensus to change the health-care system - the lobbyists have won for too long," said Andrews, chairman of one of the three House subcommittees that will have primary jurisdiction over health care legislation.
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Gov. Corzine is trailing the leading Republican gubernatorial contender and is barely ahead of the next closest GOP candidate, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll out today.
Former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie leads Gov. Corzine 41 percent to 32, according to the survey. Corzine leads former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan 36 to 32.
The poll comes as Corzine is contemplating deep budget cuts and tax increases to balance the budget he will present March 10. FDU found that 40 percent of voters approve of Corzine's job performance while 46 percent disapprove.
"The governor is taking his lumps along with the rest of New Jersey," said Peter Woolley, the poll's director.
The poll surveyed 751 registered New Jersey voters and has a 4 percent margin of error.
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Gov. Corzine said today that deep spending cuts in the budget he will unveil March 10 will exceed any tax increases that may also be part of the spending plan.
"One thing's for certain, we’re going to have very, very serious cuts in spending. Big cuts in spending that will way overwhelm some of the other kinds of things we’re talking about," Corzine told reporters this morning when asked about the tax increases his administration is considering.
Corzine would not confirm that the potential tax increases we wrote about Sunday are under discussion.
"All options are on the table and in fact no final decisions have been made on any specifics," Corzine said. "We have several different models we are looking at."
According to multiple sources, Corzine is eyeing an income tax surcharge of 5 percent or less on incomes of $250,000 or more and increases in taxes on cigarettes and liquor, though no decisions are yet final. He is also considering requiring state workers to take 12 unpaid furloughs - one per month - over the course of the next fiscal year.
Corzine said furloughs are preferable to lay offs.
"It is better to have people working, it is better to have people have health care, than it is to have people standing in the unemployment line," Corzine said.
Corzine will give us the final details of his budget March 10. It will then head to the Legislature, where some Democrats are already balking at the idea of tax increases.
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Lawmakers today continued to point to some ugly choices when Gov. Corzine unveils his budget March 10, including the likelihood of cuts to property tax rebates and even opened the door to the possibility of tax increases.
"This may be the most dire budget situation that I have seen in all my years in the Legislature," Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. (D., Camden) said after a late morning meeting with Gov. Corzine and other legislative leaders. "There are bad choices and there are worse choices."
Roberts, a member of the Legislature since 1987, and Senate President Richard J. Codey (D., Essex), confirmed that Corzine is considering scaling back property tax rebates. They said he hoped to preserve the checks for senior citizens - "rebates for seniors will be kept, there’s no question about that," Codey said - but are considering how to handle the program for people under the age of 65.
The rebates cost $1.7 billion last year. Roberts said $1.1 billion went to non-seniors. That makes the program a large target as Corzine and lawmakers look to cut spending. The state's revenue picture, Roberts said, is getting worse each day.
Codey had previously said he did not expect major tax increases, but that possibility appears to be on the table. Asked today about the possibility of tax hikes, Roberts said, "We had a very preliminary discussion of a whole range of options. If you’re losing revenue and you want to provide programs that are important in this state we have to look at where the revenue’s going to come from."
Corzine has said all along he must consider every option to balance the budget and has refused to rule out tax hikes.
Roberts and Codey said preserving rebates must be balanced with priorities such as aid to schools and municipalities. Cutting that support, they said, would only drive up property taxes while they tried to save the rebates. They said they hope to preserve rebates, but clearly left open the idea that they may be cut.
"I think the public understands there’s going to be a lot of choices in here that nobody likes, but the fact is that we have dramatically lower revenues and with those lower revenues we’re going to have to curtail some things that we might otherwise want to do," Corzine said in an earlier news conference with reporters.
Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D., Camden), the Assembly budget chair, also eased off of comments Wednesday that he would "fight to the death" to preserve the rebates. He said property taxes remain the top issue in the state but that there is debate and discussion every year and eventually compromise.
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Gov. Corzine is in Washington today after meeting with President Obama, but he has "no interest" in staying there as Commerce secretary, he said this afternoon.
"We’ve got enormous challenges in New Jersey and I’m working on trying to serve the people of New Jersey as best we can as we go through this very difficult economic time," Corzine told reporters on a conference call. "We need consistent focus on that and I have no interest in the commerce secretary position. I like what I’m doing."
Corzine said that "no one has spoken to me about" the open spot in the Obama administration.
In asking Corzine whether he would be interested, PolitickerNJ.com reporter Matt Friedman noted that Corzine has been a very public face in selling the stimulus plan.
The commerce post remains open after Republican Sen. Judd Gregg withdrew from consideration. Obama's original pick, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, also withdrew.
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Depends on who you ask and how you measure it - although there is broad agreement on the big picture. Two groups with an eye on the plan say the figure is probably around $6.3 to $6.6 billion. But another group says it may be as large as $17 billion - and Gov. Corzine quoted this figure Tuesday. What gives?
The big difference is that the $6 billion-ish estimates were made counting only items that will help New Jersey government, its programs, public works projects and other public needs. They come from the U.S. Senate Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) and Federal Funds Information for States (FFIS).
The larger figure comes from the left-leaning Center for American Progress, which championed the stimulus bill. The center analysis includes roughly $10.3 billion estimated to flow to individuals in New Jersey in the form of tax breaks, unemployment benefits and other help for individuals. Adding the (roughly) $10.3 billion and the (roughly) $6.5 billion gets you to around $17 billion. Some of the differences also comes because the Center thinks more money will come to some Jersey programs than in the DPC and FFIS summaries.
While there might still be some movement on the exact, specific amounts that come New Jersey, all three estimates basically agree on the big picture. There will be about $1.3 billion for "stabilization" aid to the state budget, largely for education spending; $2.2 billion for Medicaid; around $650 million for highway funding and $524 million for mass transit; about $350 million for special education and $253 million for low-income students and $296 million in food stamps. These numbers all come from the Policy Committee, which estimates that under the major provisions of the bill, New Jersey is in line for about $6.2 billion in aid. Another $208 million would go to the state's unemployment trust fund, for a rough total of $6.4 billion.
FFIS, which analyzes federal policy's impact on states, comes up with an estimate of about $6.3 billion, not counting the unemployment fund money. Add that in and Jersey is at $6.5 billion - almost the same as the policy committee. So it seems safe to say that $6.5 billion is about the right figure for government.
The amount matters politically. Republicans are pointing to federal data that show that New Jersey pays about 4.5 percent of the taxes collected by the IRS, but at $6.5 billion is only in line for about 2 or 3 percent of the money going to states.
At $17 billion the stimulus benefits to Jersey sound a lot bigger and more attractive, but it still only represents 2.2 percent of the overall package.
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At an event Friday with Gov. Jon Corzine, Palmer, who political insiders see as a potential lieutenant governor nominee later this year, stepped to the podium and opened with this:
"I don't know why for the first time, being with the governor, I feel like I'm auditioning now," Palmer said, drawing laughs from most of the crowd and bugged-out eyes from the press corps.
No one who follows state politics would be surprised that Palmer is interested in the new slot as New Jersey's number two office holder, but no one else has yet been so forward about it. Maybe it'll just take some getting used to, since the lieutenant governor slot is a new position added to this year's ballot and no one is quite sure how the added wrinkle will play out, or just how forcefully the contenders will lobby to be picked.
Gov. Corzine and the winner of the Republican primary will choose a lieutenant governor to run with them after their party primaries. The Associated Press had a look at some of the contenders this past weekend.
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McKeon, chairman of the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee, made the pronouncement on Friday, the day before Valentine's Day.
"Some of the most important aspects of human nature are renewable -- such as hope, faith, trust, loyalty and courage, and love, most certainly, is a renewable energy," said McKeon, a lawyer.
He added that love, "by enhancing our quality of life... creates a positive home and working environment."
McKeon also noted that love is good for business and even recession-proof, noting that the U.S. National Retail Federation Survey estimates $14.7 billion in retail sales are projected for this Valentine's Day.
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Gov. Corzine said today he hopes Congress restores some of the state aid that was shrunk in the Senate version of the federal stimulus bill.
"I think some of the changes in the Senate were good. Some of them may be a little harsh in areas where we want to protect jobs, we want to protect public safety, we want to grow jobs in the educational field," Corzine said in an afternoon interview on MSNBC. "I think some argument about that in conference would be good and I will say it would be helpful to New Jersey."
One of the biggest pieces of state funding in the House version was $79 billion set aside largely to support education. But the Senate cut that amount nearly in half amid concerns of the packages overall cost.
Corzine said restoration of the higher level of aid "would be attractive for states."
"Any kind of support that actually comes through this will actually translate into retaining jobs and retaining services for the American people," Corzine said.
While the governor would like to see more money added, he said the most important thing is getting some stimulus approved to boost the overall economy.
Corzine faces a multi-billion deficit in the budget he is set to introduce March 10.
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