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July 1, 2009 • Vol. XXXIII • No.1A
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Governor Enacts $29 Billion Budget |
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Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed into law a $29 billion fiscal 2010 budget bill (A-4100) on Monday. Aid to school districts represents approximately a third of the budget – the largest single expense in the state budget, and one of the few budget items that saw an overall increase. Direct aid for public education will increase by nearly $280 million, to $8.8 billion. The budget relies in part on $2.2 billion in federal stimulus aid, which helped buoy school funding. Corzine noted that no school district will receive less direct state aid than it did in fiscal 2009, and 171 districts will receive increases, mostly 5 percent. Early drafts of the budget had called for cuts to education aid. In recent weeks, however, state budget officials received better-than-expected revenue projections, and they restored funding in certain areas such as $35 million for school-construction debt service aid; $10 million for adult education; and $10 million for extraordinary special-education costs. “At a time when the state has experienced historic revenue shortfalls, it’s important to note that state aid levels have been maintained. Other states have not been so fortunate,” said Michael Vrancik, NJSBA’s director of Governmental Relations, who kept in contact with lawmakers as the budget bill made its way through the Legislature. “It comports with the high priority that New Jersey citizens give their public schools.” The new budget is $4 billion less than last year’s budget, in part because it relies on temporary infusions of cash such as the federal stimulus funding, saving $300 million by renegotiating state union contracts, and $525 million in unanticipated revenue from a tax amnesty program. |
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Copyright © 2009 New Jersey School Boards Association. All rights reserved. |
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