With few options, Christie faces state budget deficit - APP

With few options, Christie faces state budget deficit

Rebate, no-tax-hike pledge limit choices

By JEAN MIKLE
STAFF WRITER

As a U.S. Attorney, Chris Christie took on mobsters, crooked politicians and New Jersey's infamous culture of corruption.

That seems simple compared to the task Christie now confronts: balance a state budget that is projected to be $9.5 billion in the red. That's equal to about a third of the current budget.

When he is sworn in as governor Jan. 19, Christie will have less than two months to get the state's fiscal house in order. He must present his first budget to the Legislature on March 16.

Unlike the federal government, which routinely spends more money than it takes in, New Jersey's constitution mandates a balanced state budget.

"This is not a fun time to be governor, to say the least," said James W. Hughes, a Rutgers University dean and public policy expert. "Just to survive, there are going to have to be significant budget cuts."

Projections of multibillion dollar deficits prior to the introduction of the state budget each year are as common in New Jersey as robins in the spring. Past governors have closed the gaps through tax increases, cuts in programs, federal aid and so-called one-shot budget tricks that raise hundreds of millions of dollars from unique revenue sources.

Last year, for example, Gov. Jon S. Corzine raised $725 million from a tax amnesty program. He used the money to restore property tax rebates for many property owners.

When Corzine took office in 2006, the budget gap was estimated at slightly more than $5 billion. Even though Corzine actually reduced the size of the state budget during the last two years of his term, the worst national economy since the Great Depression has driven down New Jersey's revenues and left the state in even worse fiscal shape.

Quite simply, New Jersey continues to spend more money than the state receives in tax revenue. It is a structural deficit that the state's Office of Management and Budget predicts will continue "absent strong action."

More fees?

"I think (Christie's) first job is to go through all the cushions and sofas in Drumthwacket and see if Gov. Corzine left anything behind," joked Joseph Marbach, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Seton Hall University.

Short of finding several billion dollars in spare change, Marbach said it will be difficult for the new governor to balance the state's budget without raising taxes.

"What will likely happen is that various fees will be increased," Marbach said. "They're not taxes, all the fees for various government services, and those are things you can sell to the public because it's a payment for a service you are using. If you're not using that service, than you don't have to pay for it."

Christie so far has ruled out tax increases and promised not to cut state aid to local school districts. He also pledged to restore property tax rebates for those earning more than $75,000, a limit imposed last year by Corzine as part of his efforts to close a $4 billion budget gap. Christie's promises may leave him with little room to maneuver when it comes to balancing the budget.

State aid to education, including contributions to teacher pensions, was $11.4 billion for fiscal year 2010, more than a third of $29.8 billion total budget.

Joseph Henchman, director of state programs for the nonpartisan Tax Foundation in Washington, said the Christie administration should consider expanding the sales tax to items like clothing and groceries.

"Something needs to be done with the revenue volatility," Henchman said. "Over the last 30 years or so, it's quite dramatic. It's a roller coaster I would not ride."

The reason for the sharp spikes and drops in state revenues are New Jersey's reliance on high income earners to pay the bulk of its income taxes, its heavy dependence on corporate taxes and its decision to exempt necessities such as clothing from the sales tax, Henchman said.

Corporate earnings, as well as the wages brought home by those at the top of the income tax tier, tend to fluctuate widely with swings in the economy, Henchman said. The deep recession of the past 18 months has caused steep drops in income, corporate and sales taxes, leading to an even bigger budget deficit.

Financial emergency

Toms River resident Victor Antonelli, 70, said he supported Christie in the general election and expects him to take on the state's employee unions to reduce costs.

"The first thing he's got to do is attack the pension system because it's out of control," Antonelli said. "Also, the state government, the way it is run today, there are simply too many people on the payroll."

It seems likely that Christie will forgo the state's contribution to the employee pensions this year. Corzine's fiscal year 2010 budget gave $400 million to the pension funds, but from 1997 to 2005, no money was set aside for pension payments.

Published reports have stated Christie is considering declaring a financial emergency in the state, a move that could allow him to layoff some of the 74,600 state workers, who are paid a collective $2.9 billion in salaries and wages. Last year, Corzine considered such a move before negotiating a deal with the state's largest employee union, the Communications Workers of America.

Under the deal, the union agreed to take 10 unpaid furlough days while deferring a wage increase. The agreement included a no-layoff pledge by Corzine through December 2010; if layoffs occur, a 3.5 percent raise due in January 2011 would be due immediately.

Christie has said he will not be bound by the terms of Corzine's deal with the union.

The problem with cuts, of course, is residents are likely to howl if it impacts state services. When Corzine proposed closing the Agriculture Department and shutting down nine state parks in 2008 to save $4.5 million, the public protest caused him to abandon his plans.

"New Jerseyans want Mercedes Benz-level services, and they don't even want to pay Kia prices," Rutgers' Hughes said. "The basic reality is, both as a nation and as a state, we have been living a lifestyle we can no longer afford. There are going to be wrenching adjustments that have to take place."

New York Seeks National Effort to Curtail Salt Use -NYT

New York Seeks National Effort to Curtail Salt Use -NYT

First New York City required restaurants to cut out trans fat. Then it made restaurant chains post calorie counts on their menus. Now it wants to protect people from another health scourge: salt.

On Monday, the Bloomberg administration plans to unveil a broad new health initiative aimed at encouraging food manufacturers and restaurant chains across the country to curtail the amount of salt in their products.

The plan, for which the city claims support from health agencies in other cities and states, sets a goal of reducing the amount of salt in packaged and restaurant food by 25 percent over the next five years.

Public health experts say that would reduce the incidence of high blood pressure and should help prevent some of the strokes and heart attacks associated with that condition. The plan is voluntary for food companies and involves no legislation. It allows companies to cut salt gradually over five years so the change is less noticeable to consumers.

“We all consume way too much salt, and most of the salt we consume is in the food when we buy it,” said Dr. Thomas Farley, the city health commissioner, whose department is leading the effort. Eighty percent of the salt in Americans’ diets comes from packaged or restaurant food. Dr. Farley said reducing salt from those sources would save lives.

Since taking office, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who just began his third term, has gained a reputation as an advocate for healthy living, initiating prominent campaigns against smoking and harmful trans fats. To combat obesity, he has campaigned for calorie labeling on restaurant menus and warned consumers about sugary soft drinks.

The city’s salt campaign is in some ways more ambitious and less certain of success than the ones it waged against smoking and obesity. For one thing, the changes it prescribes require cooperation on a national scale, city officials said, because major food companies cannot be expected to alter their products for just the New York market.

And removing salt from many products can be complicated. Salt plays many roles in food, enhancing flavor, preventing spoilage and improving shelf life. It helps bread to rise and brown.

The city’s campaign against salt resembles its push to cut trans fat from restaurant foods, which began with a call for voluntary compliance. When that did not work, the city passed a law to force restaurants to eliminate trans fat.

But city officials said it would be difficult to legislate sodium reduction.

“There’s not an easy regulatory fix,” said Geoffrey Cowley, an associate health commissioner. “You would have to micromanage so many targets for so many different products.”

He said officials hoped the campaign would work through public pressure. Companies that complied would benefit from good publicity.

The city has been discussing the program with the food industry since late 2008, yet only a few companies appear ready to jump on board. One of those is A.& P., the supermarket chain.

“We think it’s a very realistic set of criteria that our suppliers can adhere to,” said Douglas A. Palmer, vice president for store brands at A.& P.

He said the company expected to embrace the city’s salt reduction goals for the hundreds of store brand products it sells under labels like America’s Choice and Smart Price in 435 supermarkets throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. In Manhattan, the chain operates under the name Food Emporium.

Subway, the fast food sandwich chain, also said it expected to commit to the city’s salt guidelines at its nearly 23,000 stores across the country.

Lanette R. Kovachi, Subway’s corporate dietitian, said the company has reduced salt in stores in several other countries, including Britain and Australia, in response to government programs there.

“We view these as achievable goals,” she said.

The company’s best-selling item, a six-inch turkey sandwich, is already below the city’s five-year average target for lunch meat sandwiches in restaurants. But the chain also has a six-inch spicy Italian sub whose salt content is well above the city’s goals.

On Monday, after a year of consultations with industry, the city will release preliminary targets for sodium content. After a review, the city will unveil final targets in the spring and ask companies to commit to the program.

The system proposed by the city is complex, with reductions ranging from 10 to 40 percent for 61 classes of packaged foods and 25 classes of restaurant foods.

It would measure the average salt content of a company’s entire line of a particular type of product, like canned vegetables, breakfast cereals or frozen dinners, adjusted to give greater weight to products with the highest sales. That would allow companies to maintain a range of sodium levels but would create incentive to cut back on salt in the most popular items.

While most food companies say they agree at least with the goal of reducing salt, some medical researchers have questioned the scientific basis for the initiative, saying insufficient research had been done on possible effects. While agreeing that reducing salt is likely to lower average blood pressure, they say it can lead to other physiological changes, some of which may be associated with heart problems.

An elaborate clinical trial could weigh the pluses and minuses of cutting salt in a large group of people. But that would cost millions, and it has not been done.

Dr. Michael H. Alderman, a professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, said the city’s initiative, if successful in reducing salt, would amount to an uncontrolled experiment with the public’s health.

“I’m always worried about unintended consequences,” he said.

The federal government recommends that sodium intake from salt be limited to 1,500 to 2,300 milligrams a day, with the latter figure equaling about a teaspoon. But the average adult in this country consumes about 3,400 milligrams a day.

Several major companies, including some that have been leaders in reducing salt, said they would not join the city initiative.

“One of the things we want to bring across to New York City is that sodium reduction does not always follow a prescribed time or prescribed progress,” said Chor-San Khoo, vice president for global nutrition and health at the Campbell Soup Company. “There’s no one size fits all.”

Campbell has already made significant reductions in the amount of salt in many of its products, including many canned soups, V8 beverages and Pepperidge Farm breads.

“We will continue to reduce sodium as long as there’s consumer acceptance in the marketplace,” Ms. Khoo said.

ConAgra, which makes a wide array of products, including Hunt’s canned tomato products and Chef Boyardee packaged meals, said it would continue with previously announced plans to cut the sodium in its portfolio of products by 20 percent by 2015.

“We don’t have plans to join other organizations’ pledges,” the company said

Teen Angst: Why Do I have to eat fruits and vegetables - Huffington Post

Teen Angst: Why Do I have to eat fruits and vegetables - Huffington Post

Recently I learned that less than ten percent of teens are getting the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables. Many teens may think it's no big deal to eat mostly processed foods and snacks rather than fruits and vegetables. Are there real health consequences that teens should worry about if they're not eating any fruits and veggies? What are some of those potential consequences, both immediate and long-term?

A few thoughts here, fruits and vegetables play critical roles (every color is assigned to a body part / function ie orange for vision / skin, red/ blue /purple for heart, green for digestion and cancer prevention) in the short term and the long term. When we don't eat fruits and vegetables we miss out on fiber which acts to A: help us feel full (so we may overeat / drink calorically dense foods that contribute to higher weight) B: acts as an internal scrub brush cleaning out our entire digestive tract -- think of it this way, if we don't get our teeth cleaned for 20 years and then go get them cleaned there's going to be tons of plaque and some that is so stuck there that it can't come off and it also increases our risk of cavities.

Same thing in our intestines -- we get major build up and a higher risk of disease. In the long term, fruits and vegetables also contribute "phytonutrients" (phyto means plant) which help prevent cancer and other chronic disease. We know today that teen years as well as earlier are our "building years" so its important to build a strong foundation which includes f & v.

Teens may not eat fruits and especially vegetables because they're not big fans of the taste. What are some ideas for really yummy meals (let's say one idea for each meal -- breakfast, lunch, and dinner) that incorporate fruits and veggies?

Have you ever been to a school and tried the fruit and veggies? I wouldn't even eat the free ones provided at my hospital internship and also when I worked making school lunches -- so teens have a point!

It can be fun to engage them by making a social outing of going to a farmer's market and sampling or even learning to grow your own (even an herb) to see how good fresh food can taste. I make panini sandwiches with apples / pears slices in a George Forman or panini maker and spread peanut butter (my favorite is www.gonuttzo.com!) - they taste great raw too. Or a Parfait -- organic berries, nuts and seeds, even some chocolate chips, and a crunchy fiber cereal like Optimum Slim (Nature's Path) and an organic plain greek yogurt. Or take frozen organic berries and use them as ice cubes in tea or lemon water. Or a Gorrilla sandwich with a cucumber -- hollow it out -- and fill with hummus. Or roasted mixed vegetables with rosemary and sea salt to make "veggie chips". Or jicama and coconut with lime and cayenne or paprika. Not your boring steamed vegetables.

There are a lot of schools that unfortunately do not offer ample healthy options in the cafeteria and/or vending machine. (One girl I spoke with said the only healthy snack option at her school is basically bruised fruit. Yuck.) What tips/suggestions do you have for getting around this problem of accessibility at school?

More parents and schools are doing CSA's (community sponsored agriculture), even replacing the bake sales with fruit and vegetable sales for the community. This and talking about having a garden on campus are ideal. If not, I recommend on the weekend trying to buy fruits / vegetables in season and either bringing to school or making sure that breakfast, after school snack and dinner are rich in vegetables and fruit. Keep in mind when we say this we do not mean Froot Loops, Fruit strips, or fruit juice -- eat the fruit and skip these high sugar low fiber options

Any last words on why you think fruits and vegetables are awesome, and why teens who aren't necessarily big fans of them should look at them in a different light?

When we are 13 it's hard to think about being 30 and impossible to think about 60, so sometimes the long term health messages are lost. In the short term I tell teens that shiny hair, clear skin, a flat belly and healthy weight are the result of a balanced diet BASED on fruits and vegetables - play the game for one week and see how many different colors you can get in during your day (from whole fruits and vegetables - Skittles don't count!). If you don't like tomatoes (red), then try for strawberries...if you hate green apples, try some broccoli...its ok to "snow it" with some parmesan cheese if that helps with the taste. :)

Freeze might be costly ABC TV

Freeze might be costly ABC TV

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- It may be cold and dry in North Carolina, but it's a far different story in Florida. Portions of Flordia are under hard freeze warnings. The cold weather is a shock to many people's systems and an even bigger shock to the state's lucrative crops.

They haven't been decimated yet, but growers are worried about widespread damage. If it happens it could put a dent in people's finances.

Forty percent of the world's orange juice comes from Florida.

In North Carolina the cost of other fruits and vegetables may also spike. It's a one two punch in the Triangle. Farmers are having trouble getting their product to market and consumers are facing higher prices. Signs of the big chill, can be seen everywhere at the State Farmers Market. From the invitation to shop on the sunny side to bundled up shoppers and sellers. Some say, while shivering.

"Oh no, where is everybody? Usually the place is filled with not only people, but vendors," Farmers Market shopper Tisha Milette said.

Milette says she goes to the market for the fresh produce, especially her daughter's favorites.

"Out of vegetables, probably tomatoes, and out of fruit, strawberries," Milette said. Tomatoes grown indoors are available at the Farmers Market.

Unfortunately, the one stand that's advertising fresh strawberries isn't open this Sunday, although they did sell some berries Saturday.

Firewood helps people warm, but strawberries grown outside during the cold snap get covered with cloth and water that forms a thin coating of ice.

"It helps, but when it really gets low, if you don't protect them they won't survive," Berry Patch employee Charlene Hennis said.

Hennis used to grow strawberries in Greensboro, but now she sells jams and preserves at The Berry Patch. She says shoppers looking for fresh berries when it's this cold should prepare to pay more.

"Oh yeah, the price will have to go up," Hennis said. "About fifty-percent, maybe more than that, because gas prices are so much higher now."

The cost of importing strawberries, like from Florida, will get passed down to customers. Bottom line, to get fresh produce now, stick with the winter hardy ones like roots and greens or get ready to dig deeper for healthy choices.