Corzine to delay budget intro

(AP) - New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine is planning to delay the introduction of the next state budget by two weeks to see how much President-elect Barack Obama's federal aid package will help the state.

News 12 Staff

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Dec 31, 2008, 6:32 PM

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Updated 5,774 days ago

(AP) - New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine is planning to delay the introduction of the next state budget by two weeks to see how much President-elect Barack Obama's federal aid package will help the state.

Treasury spokesman Tom Vincz says Corzine will give his budgetaddress on March 10 instead of Feb. 24. Governors typically givethe address in mid-February.

Corzine will need legislative approval for the delay.

Treasury officials say the delay is also needed because they areup to six weeks behind schedule trying to plug a $1.2 billion holein the current budget.

Lawmakers would still have to approve a balanced budget by June30.

Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce was unmoved by Corzine'srequest, saying the budget is too important to delay, even for 14days.

But Senate President Richard Codey supports the move, saying thestimulus amount is a huge factor in determining what budget cutsNew Jersey ultimately makes.