$4 Million already wasted on $548 per hour lawyers THROUGH OCTOBER to jam through Corzine's toll hike and borrowing scheme - no need to waste more.

Senators Jennifer Beck (R-12) and Steve Oroho (R-24) criticized the Corzine Administration today for awarding a government contract to the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP, to jam though his toll hike and borrowing scheme.

"The state should immediately pull the plug on this unconscionable contract that pays a team of more than 30 attorneys up to $550 per hour to prepare for Corzine’s plan to hike tolls 800% and borrow $40 billion," stated Beck. "New Jersey residents, businesses and legislators have already voiced their adamant opposition to this toll hike scheme and the Governor should listen to their concerns."

Skadden Arps has been paid approximately $4 million under the contract for work done from late January 2007 through October 2007. For the last month of billings, the State was typically incurring expenses of approximately $15, 000 per day for the services of dozens of attorneys, some of whom are not admitted to the bar in New Jersey. The State has redacted billings making it impossible to determine what the attorneys are doing.

In a strange twist, the State was not given a bill for work by Skadden Arps until 10 months after hourly billings began. The bill that was submitted was more than 200 pages long, making it difficult, if not impossible for anyone who reviewed the bills to remember if the claimed services had been provided and impossible to stop any possible billing abuses should they have occurred.

"The State Comptroller needs to immediately review the contract and billings," continued Oroho. "Given the millions of dollars involved, there is ample opportunity for waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer funds. At the very least, the new Comptroller needs to end the insane business practice of allowing vendors to submit bills ten months after services are claimed to have been delivered."

To date, Governor Corzine’s administration has incurred approximately $10 million of taxpayer liability preparing his toll hike and borrowing scheme. The $4 million given to Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom, LLP, has been, by far, the biggest expenditure.

"Four million for work we are not sure of, for a deal that’s unlikely to go forward is a complete and total waste," concluded Beck. "And now the Governor is talking about cutting property tax relief in his budget address next week, when he should be doing things like pulling the plug on his own wasteful spending."