Handlin calls on Gov. Corzine to rein in state overtime

PRESS RELEASE

March 14, 2007

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin/732-787-1170
Assembly Republican Office/609-292-5339

In response to a recent Asbury Park Press article which reported the state's Executive Branch spent more than $230 million on overtime pay last year, Assemblywoman Amy Handlin, R-Monmouth/Middlesex, on March 14 said such expenditures are a prime example of why New Jersey is on the fast track to bankruptcy and called on Governor Jon Corzine to end this practice now.

"Even as Governor Corzine was laying out his Fiscal Year 2008 budget, he was telling us that the state is facing a structural budget deficit for next year. On Monday, OLS told the Assembly Budget Committee there's a very good chance the governor's proposed budget may have a $633 million shortfall," Handlin said. "Is it any wonder this state is in such a hole when we're paying out exorbitant amounts of taxpayer money for overtime pay?"

According to the article, 79 percent of the Executive Branch's overtime was paid to employees in the departments of Human Services, Corrections and Law and Public Safety. Sixty-six state employees racked up more than $60,000 in overtime in 2006, with some more than doubling their salaries. Six employees made more than $80,000 in overtime. Executive Branch overtime pay accounted for five percent of its $5 billion salary budget.