THIS WEEK IN TRENTON – April 24, 2009

May 5, 2009

Bateman Appointed to Judiciary Committee
Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean announced this week that Deputy Republican Conference Leader Christopher “Kip” Bateman will take the new Republican seat that has been created on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senate President Richard J. Codey announced in March that he was expanding the membership on both the Senate Judiciary and Labor committees by two, with one new Democrat and one new Republican to be appointed for each committee. Senator Codey appointed Senator Brian Stack to the Judiciary Committee and Senator James Beach to the Labor Committee. Senator Kean has not yet named the additional Republican Senator who will serve on the Labor Committee.  Senator Kean also announced that he will be replacing Senator Bateman on the Senate Education Committee. Senator Bateman will continue to serve on the Environment Committee.

Health Care and Roads Allocated Most of Stimulus Funds
The U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a report this week which analyzed how 16 states, including New Jersey, and the District of Columbia are using stimulus money they are receiving under three of the biggest stimulus accounts, health transportation and education, which will account for close to 90 percent of the money headed to states from the $787 billion economic stimulus bill signed into law in February.

New Jersey has received $550 million in increased “matching” money for Medicaid. According to the GAO, the state has tapped into $362 million to handle the increased caseload, balance the state’s budget and eliminate premiums for the poorest children enrolled in NJ FamilyCare. New Jersey can expect a total of $2 billion this year and next for health care related programs like Medicaid. The GAO said the U.S. Department of Transportation has so far allocated $281 million for 12 projects in New Jersey. That also is only a portion of the total highway funds coming from Washington — the state will get $652 million for road, bridge and associated projects. The state has been allocated $891 million for schools and colleges but the money hasn’t yet reached the state because the Corzine administration has just completed the first step of the process by stating in writing it intends to use the money from the so-called stabilization fund to improve public education.

Legislative Action
This week, the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reviewed the budgets of the Department of Environmental Protection, the Board of Public Utilities, the Department of Corrections, the State Parole Board and the Department of the Public Advocate on April 20 and reviewed the budgets of the Department of Health and Senior Services and the Department of Law and Public Safety on April 22. The Assembly Budget Committee reviewed the budgets of the Department of Health and Senior Services and the Department of Law and Public Safety on April 21. Next week the Senate Judiciary Committee will meet on April 27 to consider nominations and the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee will meet to review the budgets of the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, the Judiciary, and the Department of State on April 27 and will review the budgets of the Department of Education and Higher Educational Services on April 29. The Assembly Budget Committee will meet to review the budgets of the Department of Transportation, NJ Transit, the Motor Vehicle Commission and Higher Educational Services on April 28 and will review the budgets of the Department of Education and the Department of Labor and Workforce Development on April 30.

By WeSpeak Easy | Posted in Legislative & Government Affairs | Tagged: Bateman, stimulus | Comments (0)