New Brunswick, NJ, October 8, 2012 — On the Rutgers University campus this morning, HealthCare Institute for New Jersey (HINJ) President and Chief Executive Officer Dean J. Paranicas joined former Governor Tom Kean, Senate President Steve Sweeney, Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver, Rutgers President Dr. Robert L. Barchi, and other state business leaders, higher education officials and labor leaders to urge public support for a referendum that would invest $750 million in capital investments for New Jersey’s colleges and universities.
The question will be placed before Garden State voters this November, after near unanimous passage by the legislature and signed by Governor Christie. The much-needed investment will help build the cutting-edge facilities that will better prepare the state’s work force, drive innovation and research, and lay the path toward a strong economic future with good paying jobs.
Governor Kean was announced as Chairman of the Building Our Future coalition, which is comprised of nearly 200 groups from around New Jersey, including HINJ, that have officially endorsed the college funding ballot question.
“I am honored to help lead this coalition because it is so important to our state’s economic future, ensures our kids are prepared for a competitive global economy, and sends a strong message that New Jersey is serious about attracting the high-tech jobs of the future,” said former Governor Tom Kean, who also Chaired Governor Christie’s Higher Education Task Force. “Not since I was governor 24 years ago has New Jersey made a significant capital investment in higher education, and with growing college costs, an increasingly competitive global economy and dated academic infrastructure, the time is now to deliver for New Jersey.”
If approved by New Jersey voters in November, the ballot question would authorize $750 million in funding for capital construction at New Jersey’s public and private two- and four-year higher education institutions. Princeton University, with a large endowment of its own, will not have access to the funding. The capital dollars will be restricted to construction and modernization of academic and research facilities only, and not bureaucratic buildings or sports facilities.
It also requires a 25 percent funding match by colleges and universities, increasing the real value of the investment and ensuring that only the highest priority projects are undertaken. New Jersey is one of only five states that spent no money on capital improvements for higher education in the last five years, a list that includes states like Alabama and Montana. Meanwhile, New York and Connecticut are spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually to prepare their workforce and attract good-paying jobs.
The following quotes were included in Building Our Future’s press release:
Senate President Steve Sweeney:
“The level of bipartisan support that this measure achieved in Trenton was unprecedented, with nearly unanimous votes at every step, because this is a commonsense investment that provides immediate construction jobs for working families and a framework for long term growth. Modernizing our state’s higher education institutions will lead to the kinds of new innovations, startups and research that will have a lasting impact across New Jersey.”
Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver:
“New Jersey invests heavily in K-12 education, with great schools, teachers and classrooms. We need to continue that investment at our state colleges and universities. For more than a decade the state’s lack of funding has pushed those maintenance and construction costs onto colleges and students, putting an affordable college education further out of reach. The bipartisan, broad-based support between business, labor and higher education, shows that this is a significant investment that will create the jobs and ensure students have access to an affordable, high quality education.”
Robert L. Barchi, President of Rutgers University:
“Investing in new classrooms and state-of-the-art laboratories is about New Jersey meeting the global competition head-on. It’s about New Jersey kids who are coming out of high school knowing that they can get the top-notch, 21st century preparation in our colleges for a market where they need to be smarter, faster, more nimble, and more high-tech than ever before.”
Ralph Izzo, Chairman, President and CEO of PSEG, Inc.:
“Every business in New Jersey should be supporting this bond issue. Investing in higher education in New Jersey is the best way to assure that we have a highly trained workforce available to us. Our local universities need additional resources to compete for research opportunities with growing businesses in the energy, biotech and pharmaceutical arenas which, in turn, will give our graduating students the critical experience necessary to contribute to our businesses and the New Jersey economy.”
Dean J. Paranicas, President and Chief Executive Officer, HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ):
“New Jersey is a recognized global leader in health care, biotech and the life sciences, key drivers of our state’s economy. If we want to retain and increase the number of well-paying jobs in New Jersey and sustain our leadership position, we need to make a serious investment in our colleges and universities. Innovation-based industries need a robust higher-education system that produces a steady pipeline of highly trained talent. The Building Our Future Bond will help achieve that, and will strengthen our innovation ecosystem, fostering greater research collaborations between the private sector and academia that is critical to economic growth in New Jersey. This is why we strongly support this referendum.”
Katherine Yabut, Student Representative to the Rutgers Board of Trustees & Chairperson, Legislative Affairs Committee, Rutgers University Student Association:
“My parents and I had to take out loans to pay for college, even though my job prospects right now are unclear. Costs keep rising for us in large part because it’s been almost 25 years since New Jersey has had a capital improvement bond for higher education. It’s time that New Jersey invests in its future competitiveness by modernizing our schools and reducing the high costs which otherwise falls to families like mine to pay for. Every parent and every student across New Jersey needs to vote YES on 1!”
Bill Mullen, President of the New Jersey State Building and Construction Trades Council:
“The significant capital construction funding contained in this referendum will jump-start dozens of development projects all over the state, and result in thousands of new job opportunities immediately. That’s great news for the state’s economy and our highly skilled tradesmen, who are ready to get to work building the cutting edge facilities that will make New Jersey the best place to invest and create jobs.”
For additional information on Building Our Future’s Yes on 1 campaign, visit its website at http://buildingourfuturenj.com.