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The New Jersey Legislature has until July 1 to pass a budget, using an initial proposal by Gov. Chris Christie as a guide. Some are using an apples-to-oranges comparison between this budget and its predecessor, confusing net state spending with overall spending, which includes federal stimulus dollars. When breaking down former Gov. Jon Corzine’s final budget with Gov. Christie’s initial proposal, we see a 4.70 percent year-over-year decrease in net state spending, and an 8.13 percent year-over-year decrease in combined state and stimulus spending. Not only does the Christie budget spend considerably less, it is more than 54 percent less reliant on federal bailout dollars than was its predecessor.

  • The Christie budget includes roughly $28.4 billion in state spending supplemented with $1.0 billion in federal stimulus funds for a total of $29.4 billion.
  • The last budget of the governor’s predecessor, Jon Corzine, included $29.8 billion in state spending supplemented by $2.2 billion in stimulus funds for a total of $32 billion.
  • The non-stimulus Christie budget is 4.7 percent smaller than the last non-stimulus Corzine budget.
  • The Christie budget relies on 54.6 percent less stimulus spending than the last Corzine budget.
  • Combined state and stimulus spending is 8.13 percent less under the Christie budget than under the last Corzine budget.

 

FY2010 (CORZINE)

FY2011 (CHRISTIE)

TAXPAYER SAVINGS

STATE SPENDING

$29.8 BIL

$28.4 BIL

$1.4 BIL

(4.70%)

“STIMULUS”

SPENDING

$2.2 BIL

$1.0 BIL

$1.2 BIL (54.55%)

COMBINED

SPENDING

$32.0 BIL

$29.4 BIL

$2.6 BIL

(8.13%)