Christie in Elmwood Park
A bit Late : Wall Street warns Christie to avoid election-year budget moves
By Salvador Rizzo/The Star-Ledger
on February 24, 2013 at 12:10 PM, updated February 24, 2013 at 6:08 PM
Editors Note : We had to laugh when we saw this article , its funny Wall Street never seemed to warn James Florio , Christine Todd Whitman, Jim McGreevey, and Jon Corzine for getting us into this mess . Nor have they warned about all the irresponsible spending and behavior in New Jersey’s Assemble and Senate . So where have the Wall Street wizards been the last 30 years?
TRENTON — When Gov. Chris Christie rolls out his new budget on Tuesday, Wall Street will be watching closely — and is warning that any false moves or election-year gimmicks could trigger more downgrades of New Jersey’s credit rating.
Analysts at Fitch Ratings, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have all recently drawn their lines in the sand, telling the governor to steer clear of budgeting tricks that would lower costs in the short term by kicking the can down the road.
For example, skimping on the state’s pension contribution — which is set to rise from $1.1 billion in the current budget year to nearly $1.7 billion in the next — would upset all three agencies and could set off downgrades, the agencies say.
So would borrowing more money, relying heavily on one-shot sources of revenue, and failing to close a budget shortfall that reached $473 million at the end of January, among other concerns.
“What we’re looking for is a really strong economic rebound, combined with efforts at the state level to achieve a structurally balanced budget,” said John Sugden, an S&P credit analyst.