Senate Republican Budget Officer Declan O’Scanlon criticized the addition of 14 bills to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee’s agenda with little notice. According to O’Scanlon, “Late last night, around 7:30 p.m., Democrats dumped 14 additional bills onto today’s Budget agenda, with virtually no notice, no transparency, and no respect for the legislative process. This is not how responsible government is supposed to work. Ramming through major policy changes under the cover of darkness denies lawmakers and the public the opportunity to fully review and understand what’s being proposed.”
O’Scanlon expressed particular concern about a ‘superfund’ bill that he said would increase costs on fuel for residents. He stated, “The ‘superfund’ bill will add $ billions to the cost of all the fuels we all pay for every day. That bill, coupled with the other outrageous bills the Democrats intend to pass today will, outrageously, potentially amount to the highest tax increase on NJ residents in the history of a single legislative day. That’s an amazing, and horrendous, accomplishment!”
He also warned against proposals that would reverse pension reforms from 2011. “Even more alarming, several of the bills scheduled for consideration would roll back the critical and fair pension reforms enacted in 2011—reforms that were absolutely necessary to prevent the collapse of our pension system. Undoing them would put New Jersey right back on the path that led to massive unfunded liabilities and crushing tax increases on both state and property taxpayers, potentially costing tens of billions of dollars. These kinds of reckless giveaways are exactly what created the pension crisis in the first place. To make matters worse, some of these bills still haven’t even been made available to review. This is outrageous, irresponsible, and taxpayers deserve far better than this broken process.”
State Senator Anthony M. Bucco represents New Jersey’s 25th Legislative District as Senate Republican Leader and chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee while serving as a member of both that committee and the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. He is involved in sponsoring legislation and addressing state issues through his committee roles.
Bucco provides constituent services through his district office located at 75 North Main Street in Boonton as well as via email for legislative inquiries. His responsibilities include representing communities such as Bernardsville Borough, Boonton Town and Denville Township.
Through his work on committees including budget appropriations and judiciary, Bucco sponsors or co-sponsors key legislation affecting state policy.