DeCROCE TO CORZINE ON TOLL ROAD ASSET SALE PLAN: STOP LOBBYING INSIDERS, COME CLEAN WITH THE PUBLIC

TAXPAYERS DESERVE TO KNOW WHAT PLAN WILL ENTAIL

Release Date: July 16, 2007

Assembly Republicans (New Jersey)

Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce today said that Governor Jon Corzine should spend less time lobbying insiders and political activists about what he says his toll road asset sale will not include and more time coming clean with the public about what the plan actually will entail.

“The Governor has been very aggressive about spinning what his plan won’t include, but very secretive about disclosing what the plan will include,” said DeCroce, R-Morris and Passaic. “Instead of spending his time and resources lobbying insiders about his ‘core principles,’ the Governor has an obligation to tell all of the state’s taxpayers what his plan includes and how it will impact them.”

An item in the Sunday Star-Ledger reported that Corzine’s office had e-mailed a transcript of the governor’s remarks regarding his “core principles” on the toll road asset sale – in which he pledged not to sell or lease the New Jersey Turnpike – to 9,600 elected officials, lobbyists, activists and community leaders. The e-mail was also sent to a 6,000 person Democrat State Committee mailing list and 11,000 people in the transportation and utility industries.

Just last week the Corzine administration refused to release all documents related to the toll road asset sale, responding to an Assembly Republican office OPRA request by stating that, “if a search for responsive records were to be undertaken, the number of potentially relevant documents is so voluminous that it would cause a substantial disruption of the operations of [Treasury’s] Office of Public Finance . . .”

“If the Governor wants to communicate with the public, he could start by revealing the documentation as to how his administration has spent $4.5 million in preparation for this asset sale,” DeCroce said. “Clearly the administration has done a lot of work on this plan, and it is time he let his bosses – the state’s taxpayers – know what he is up to.”

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