Money Doesn't Grow on Trees
Steve Adubato, Ph.D.

Governor-elect Jim McGreevey has a new campaign on his hands, but this one is going to be a lot harder than beating Bret Schundler in a general election. This campaign involves convincing legislators and citizens that spending must stop now. McGreevey and the rest of us face a massive budget shortfall. This is no joke in Trenton. Revenues are declining dramatically in the aftermath of September 11. Something has got to give.

McGreevey says it's time for the "pork" and the "Christmas tree wish list" to stop. He is referring to a host of special projects and grants awarded to numerous community groups, towns and special interests that legislators sponsor to make them look good back home with voters. I know about these kinds of things. In the mid-1980s as a member of the legislature, I was able to get a $25,000 state grant to buy a senior citizen bus for Verona. For that brief, fleeting moment, I was wildly popular with the elderly in Verona and I assure you these folks didn't consider that bus wasteful "pork." They considered it good responsive government. Only problem was that the voters in the six other towns I represented wanted to know what I was going to do for them.

I share this with you because it highlights how incredibly difficult it is going to be for Jim McGreevey to convince legislators and voters that things are so bad that state government can no longer be responsive in this way. I totally empathize with our new governor's position. He has promised not to raise taxes and has a massive budget deficit of possibly $3 billion to close. Cuts have to be made. There will be sacrifice; there will be pain. Many of those who get hurt will be people who worked very hard to elect Jim McGreevey. Many of those who get hurt will be the children, seniors, the disabled and taxpayers who I know Jim McGreevey wants very much to help.

Consider some items on the budgetary chopping block. A pre-school in Mount Holly that serves disabled three- to five-year-olds that is expecting to get a $35,000 state grant to pay for playground equipment, computers and a van. Who could be against such a worthy cause? Certainly not Jim McGreevey. Yet, this $35,000 grant which was promised to the preschool may not happen because of McGreevey's call to freeze all state spending. Officials at the pre-school say that it would be a "tragedy" to not receive these funds since these are "kids who have been through more than we would want to go through in a lifetime." So the question is, is it "pork" to help disabled little kids get some playground equipment and computers?

And what about a $400,000 item in this year's budget for road improvements in North Arlington? It's no secret that most towns pay big money to maintain their roads. Road maintenance is one of the biggest reasons for high property taxes. Yet, under the state freeze on spending, there is a good chance that potholes on the streets of North Arlington and countless other communities will remain. So is it "pork" when the state helps towns fix their streets with state money instead of extracting it from local citizens?

As one official in acting governor DiFrancesco's office said recently, "if Jim McGreevey's talking about property tax relief for a particular town that wants to buy a police car, I'm not sure we'd call that a 'Christmas tree' item." See, that's the thing, one man's "pork" project is another man's epitome of good, responsive and caring government. For years, legislators have gone out to town meetings and other public forums and asked constituents how they can help. What they often hear is that people are looking for state grants and money to support local projects. I'm sure that's exactly how a $50,000 item was placed in the upcoming budget for a "traumatic, unanticipated grief program" for South Jersey Survivors of Violent Crime, Inc. I guarantee you Jim McGreevey isn't against helping survivors of violent crime deal with the trauma they have gone through. Like so many other worthwhile programs, this one is in jeopardy.

So where do you cut? Who does get hurt? Who gets protected? And while we're at it, is it really the right thing to not consider a modest tax hike when our fiscal picture is so bleak? I applaud our new governor for his bold and clear message that spending must stop and that the "pork" must get cut out of the state budget. If "pork" is supposed to be a bad thing to be cut out, I ask you do any of the above projects sound like a bad thing to you? Like I said, our new governor has an incredibly difficult job on his hands. But he shouldn't be alone in this, because last time I checked, money doesn't grow on trees.

Steve Adubato, Ph.D. is a commentator, lecturer and former state legislator. Dr. Adubato is also an Emmy Award-winning television anchor and syndicated columnist.
He can be reached by fax (973) 509-1659 or e-mail him at sadubato@aol.com.

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