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NJ Dept of Ag to Shut Down

February 27, 2008

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine announced Tuesday that he plans to close the state Department of Agriculture on July 1, 2008 as a cost cutting measure.
Treasury spokesman Mark Perkiss declined to comment on the savings expected solely through elimination of the Department of Agriculture, saying only that additional details would be released in the coming days.

Corzine proposed cutting three departments -- Agriculture, Personnel and the Commerce Commission -- and 3,000 state jobs in order to balance a budget for next year that will be $500 million below this year's.

If approved, the programs handled by the departments would be assumed by other state departments and agencies.

The Agriculture Department's fate was also unclear Tuesday. Although Corzine talked of abolishing the agency, budget figures released after his speech showed actual spending on its programs would go down only 18 percent.

With little information, legislators responded to the news with skepticism.

"If all those functions can be continued and savings are found, that's one thing," said Assemblyman Douglas Fisher, D-3, of Bridgeton, chairman of the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. "The functions cannot be extinguished or diminished.