Gov. Corzine's State of the State Address

Asset Monetization. Financial Restructuring. Super-Secret Scheme, as one news organization facetiously has taken to calling his plan. Whatever its called, Gov. Jon Corzine will finally make public his strategy to raise revenues and cut New Jerseys massive debt in tomorrows annual State of the State Address in Trenton. Corzine will offer more specifics, and receive lots of feedback, in 21 town hall-style meetings in the next several weeks.

The governor already has been roundly criticized for not revealing his tactics before last Novembers elections, when all 120 lawmakers seats were up for grabs. Hell surely get an earful upon conclusion of his 3 p.m. speech, not only from Republicans, but from fellow Democrats, who also were kept in the dark.

MARC HOLZER is a Board of Governors Professor and dean of the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers-Newark. Since 1975, he has directed the National Center for Public Performance, and he is the founder and editor in chief of the Public Performance and Management Review. Holzer is a former president of the American Society for Public Administration and has received several national awards in the field.

Contact Holzer at 973-353-5093, ext. 23, or mholzer@rutgers.edu.

JOSEPH J. SENECA, an economist, is a university professor at Rutgers Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy in New Brunswick. He is chair of the New Jersey Council of Economic Advisers. From 1976 until 1990, he chaired the Economic Policy Council of New Jersey, an independent commission that provided nonpartisan economic analysis to both Democratic and Republican administrations. He is co-author of many Rutgers Regional Reports that document socioeconomic trends in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area.

Call Seneca at 732-932-5475, ext. 757.

JOHN WEINGART is associate director of Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics in New Brunswick. Before joining Eagleton, he worked for more than 20 years in New Jersey state government, serving in the administrations of two Democratic and two Republican governors. He will be attending the State of the State address.

Call Weingart at 908-892-8327 (cell) or 732-932-9384, ext. 290 (office).

Contact: Steve Manas

732-932-7084, Ext. 612

E-mail: smanas@ur.rutgers.edu