Gov. Corzine's State of the State Address

Gov. Jon Corzine will deliver his third State of the State address tomorrow against a backdrop of economic uncertainty and gloom. Speaking at 1 p.m. in the General Assembly chamber, the governor is expected to re-emphasize the severity of New Jersey’s economic slump while holding off on many specifics until he delivers the annual Budget Address next month. He might mention a series of measures recently passed by the Legislature and signed into law, including the Main Street Assistance Program and the Mortgage Stabilization and Relief Act, to show how the state is trying to alleviate the plight of businesses and homeowners.

Like many governors, Corzine is looking to President-elect Obama’s economic stimulus package to provide help, especially in the area of rehabilitating the state’s infrastructure. The state has some important initiatives at the “shovel in the ground stage,” such as the Trans-Hudson Mass Transit Tunnel project that can create 6,000 jobs annually for a decade, according to a letter written to Obama by New Jersey and New York members of the U.S. Senate and House. The following Rutgers experts can comment:

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. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and the World Academy of Productivity Science.

Call Holzer at 973-353-5505 (office) or 914-629-4305.

RUTH MANDEL is a Board of Governors Professor of Politics and director of Rutgers’ Eagleton Institute of Politics.

Call Mandel at 732-266-2582.

INGRID REED is a policy analyst and director of Rutgers’ Eagleton Institute of Politics’ New Jersey Project, an initiative designed to reinforce and expand the contributions of the institute to the governance and politics of its home state. Reed will be at the State of the State address.

Call Reed at 609-610-3312.

JOSEPH J. SENECA is an economist and university professor at Rutgers’ Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. He is the former chair of the New Jersey Council of Economic Advisers and co-director 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. Before joining Eagleton, he worked for more than 20 years in New Jersey state government, focusing on environmental and land use issues while serving in the administrations of two Democratic and two Republican governors.

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