SARLO ANNOUNCES ‘AGGRESSIVE’ SCHEDULE

FOR SENATE BUDGET PANEL’S WORK ON FY11 PROPOSAL

            TRENTON – Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo today announced an aggressive 8 1/2-week schedule for the panel’s hearings on the Governor’s proposed FY2011 state budget.

            “The Governor’s budget address will come at a critical point for the state and it only follows that this committee not waste time in getting down to business,” said Sarlo (D-Bergen/Essex/Passaic). “While we will be aggressive in our timetable, we will not skimp one bit in giving the Governor’s budget the careful review it demands and deserves.”

            The committee’s schedule will begin with all-day public hearings in Paramus on Tuesday, March 23, and Camden on Thursday, March 25.

            Following the public hearings, the committee will hold its departmental and agency reviews on Tuesdays and Thursdays from April 8 through May 6. The hearing schedule will conclude with the Office of Legislative Services and the state Treasurer presenting final updated revenue figures on May 18.

            “This is an ambitious schedule, but the magnitude of the budget crisis we face demands we focus on nothing else,” said Sarlo. “This committee will move expeditiously, but we also will ensure every department and every person who appears before us is treated fairly.”