In New Jersey, Gov. Jon Corzine – and the state government – have some good news: An amnesty program that waives penalties and interest charges for delinquent taxpayers has brought in $400 million more than expected. Corzine says he wants to apply the cash to partially mitigating one of the glaring weaknesses in his reelection bid, his broken promise on property-tax rebates.
Expect his Republican challenger, Chris Christie, to back some version of GOP state lawmakers’ proposal that would restore all of the promised property-tax rebates through $783 million in spending cuts.
UPDATE: Christie just released the following statement on the postponement of today’s budget vote:
It is now clear that Jon Corzine has no control over the budget or our government. He promised four years ago to change the way Trenton budgeted, but this budget uses billions in one-shot gimmicks, including this latest tax amnesty windfall, that will have to be made up in future budgets. This kind of haphazard governing by chance just doesn’t cut it when we’re facing 8.8 percent unemployment, skyrocketing property taxes and real pain for all middle class New Jerseyans.