By Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, 12th Legislative District
It is distressing that even now – with New Jersey on the brink of fiscal disaster – powerful people in Trenton, with the ability to get real things done, are more interested in gamesmanship and political advantage than in simply fixing things.
There is not a caring resident in New Jersey who isn’t aware that one of the biggest threats to our State’s fiscal health is the mess that has become our pension system. For more than a decade our State’s leaders – governors and complicit legislative leaders – have simultaneously increased promised benefits – to buy the votes of workers – and failed to make billions of dollars of payments to cover those promised benefits – using the money instead to buy votes of other constituencies.
Of course these disastrous policies couldn’t go on forever and our New Jersey house of cards has begun to crumble. This past week the first major consequence of our years of irresponsibility hit home – our bond rating was lowered which will increase our borrowing costs and drain more of our precious resources. If we don’t fix our pension system quickly and comprehensively we will face more consequences – skyrocketing taxes, drastically slashed pension payouts to workers and an economy hobbled by a government that will soon more mirror that of a third world county than one of the United States.
Thankfully Governor Christie isn’t interested in the fleeting benefits of kicking the can down the road and he has no intention of tolerating such irresponsible behavior from our legislative leaders either. The days of timid action producing meaningless reforms by people with big mouths – the better for uttering self congratulations – and long arms – the better for patting themselves on the back – are over.
I am a sponsor of the package of pension reforms put forward by the administration. The legislation is straight forward – increases in pension contributions, increases in the time that workers must serve, and the age they must attain, before qualifying for full pensions, elimination of cost of living increases and a rollback of the biggest, arbitrary and unfunded benefit increases in years past. If we take these actions now we can fix the system – to the benefit of public workers and taxpayers – and avoid the drastic cuts in benefits and crushing taxes that will be necessary should we fail to act.
Our reform proposals are not an attack on teachers, firemen, police or other public employees. On the contrary – our public workers arguably have the most at stake if our pension system collapses. Public workers should not be fooled into joining what we know will be a knee jerk reaction by some to fight this – or any – reform. Success in thwarting reform will only mean tougher measures, or a collapse of the system, later.
The counter reform proposal put forth by Democrat legislative leaders is another, unfortunate example of what has become a sting of “RINO” (reform in name only) proposals they’ve put forward during the past year. We haven’t seen any remotely accurate projections of the actual results of their proposals and we won’t – because their proposals aren’t designed to solve the problem, they’re designed to fool the public into giving them credit for trying. These same legislative leaders have held up reform over the past half year with the inane threat that they wouldn’t move on reform until the governor made a payment into the system. That’s like a doctor refusing to remove a cancer patient’s tumor until the patient promises to start eating vegetables and excercising. Don’t get me wrong – we must make payments, but every day we delay dealing with the reforms we know we must make adds to the cost and pain of the final remedy – and brings us closer to the point of no return.
The suggestion inherent in this make-a-payment-or-we’ll-hold-up-reform challenge is that somehow the Governor took some pleasure in the choice not to make a pension payment last year. Here’s a news flash – the governor didn’t use the money meant for the pension system on wild parties on the roof of the Statehouse. He was dealing with the largest deficit in our State’s history – left to him by the irresponsible polices of the very same people now shamelessly, desperately trying to turn the blame away from themselves. Governor Christie has now pledged to start making regular payments and has also proposed comprehensive reforms that will fix the system. That has never happened before. The people carping now had complete control of our government over the past 8 years and condoned the failure to make payments into the system (in what were demonstrably better economic times) and put forward no reforms, putting the fiscal well-being of every New Jersey taxpayer and public worker in grave danger. I won’t hold my breath waiting for their acknowledgement of responsibility. But this administration – and responsible members of the legislature on both sides of the aisle – won’t let them continue to get away with the shameful, deceitful behavior that has brought us so close to the edge of fiscal disaster.
Posted: March 8th, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Declan O'Scanlon, Pensions | Tags: Declan O'Scanlon, Pension and Benefit Reform | 2 Comments »
Analysis marks pension liabilities as root of state budget crisis
WASHINGTON, DC- The nation’s top state budget watchdog, State Budget Solutions, released a report on this week demonstrating the dramatic extent of unfunded liabilities facing the state government public employee pension funds- ranging from $1 trillion to $2.8 trillion dollars depending on the study used in the analysis. “This report shows that states have been fooling the public and the federal government for years,” said Bryan Leonard, author of the study. “The breadth and depth of the public pension crisis is finally coming to light and the numbers clearly speak for themselves.”
The analysis provides comprehensive data from three studies to demonstrate a consensus about the scale of the unfunded pension crisis spreading across the nation, just as public employees rally against proposed reforms in wages and benefits in states like Wisconsin and Ohio. “It’s clear that this study reveals that the increasing costs of supporting the unfunded liability that is needed to pay government employee pensions is the real driver of the budget crises in the states,” said Bob Williams, President of State Budget Solutions. “Our report demonstrates that legislators and governors need to come to grips with the pension funding crisis or it will put their states in fiscal peril for decades.”
According to the study, states with the largest pension liabilities are California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Ohio. State governments use a special accounting method, known as GASB, which differs from that of the private sector. “Under GASB, government pension funds have not accurately portrayed the real value the pension funds. If states were required to use private sector accounting rules, like those used in the Novy-Marx & Rauh studies, the liabilities are much more dramatic,” said Williams.
A full state-by-state analysis of the public employee pension unfunded liability can be found at statebudgetsolutions.org.
| State |
PEW[1] |
AEI[2] |
Novy-Marx and Rauh[3] (2009) |
| AL |
$9,228,918,000 |
$43,544,880,000 |
$40,400,000,000 |
| AK |
$3,522,661,000 |
$14,192,229,000 |
$9,300,000,000 |
| AZ |
$7,871,120,000 |
$45,004,090,000 |
$48,700,000,000 |
| AR |
$2,752,546,000 |
$20,026,314,000 |
$15,800,000,000 |
| CA |
$59,492,498,000 |
$398,490,573,000 |
$370,100,000,000 |
| CO |
$16,813,048,000 |
$71,387,842,000 |
$57,400,000,000 |
| CT |
$15,858,500,000 |
$48,515,241,000 |
$4,900,000,000 |
| DE |
$129,359,000 |
$5,688,663,000 |
$5,100,000,000 |
| FL |
($1,798,789,000) |
$98,505,110,000 |
$8,980,000,000 |
| GA |
$6,384,903,000 |
$58,742,784,000 |
$57,000,000,000 |
| HI |
$5,168,108,000 |
$18,533,398,000 |
$16,100,000,000 |
| ID |
$772,200,000 |
$10,022,613,000 |
$7,900,000,000 |
| IL |
$54,383,939,000 |
$192,458,660,000 |
$167,300,000,000 |
| IN |
$9,825,830,000 |
$33,756,655,000 |
$30,200,000,000 |
| IA |
$2,694,794,000 |
$21,266,226,000 |
$17,000,000,000 |
| KS |
$8,279,168,000 |
$21,827,991,000 |
$20,100,000,000 |
| KY |
$12,328,429,000 |
$47,016,382,000 |
$42,300,000,000 |
| LA |
$11,658,734,000 |
$43,797,899,000 |
$36,400,000,000 |
| ME |
$2,782,173,000 |
$13,227,289,000 |
$11,800,000,000 |
| MD |
$10,926,099,000 |
$48,199,258,000 |
$43,500,000,000 |
| MA |
$21,759,452,000 |
$60,476,274,000 |
$54,200,000,000 |
| MI |
$11,514,600,000 |
$72,187,197,000 |
$63,600,000,000 |
| MN |
$10,771,507,000 |
$59,354,330,000 |
$55,100,000,000 |
| MS |
$7,971,277,000 |
$32,225,716,000 |
$28,700,000,000 |
| MO |
$9,025,293,000 |
$56,760,147,000 |
$42,100,000,000 |
| MT |
$1,549,503,000 |
$8,633,301,000 |
$7,100,000,000 |
| NE |
$754,748,000 |
$7,438,589,000 |
$6,100,000,000 |
| NV |
$7,281,752,000 |
$33,529,346,000 |
$17,500,000,000 |
| NH |
$2,522,175,000 |
$10,233,796,000 |
$8,200,000,000 |
| NJ |
$34,434,055,000 |
$144,869,687,000 |
$124,000,000,000 |
| NM |
$4,519,887,000 |
$27,875,180,000 |
$23,900,000,000 |
| NY |
($10,428,000,000) |
$182,350,104,000 |
$132,900,000,000 |
| NC |
$504,760,000 |
$48,898,412,000 |
$37,800,000,000 |
| ND |
$546,500,000 |
$4,099,053,000 |
$3,600,000,000 |
| OH |
$19,502,065,000 |
$187,793,480,000 |
$166,700,000,000 |
| OK |
$13,172,407,000 |
$33,647,372,000 |
$30,100,000,000 |
| OR |
$10,739,000,000 |
$42,203,565,000 |
$37,800,000,000 |
| PA |
$13,724,480,000 |
$114,144,897,000 |
$100,200,000,000 |
| RI |
$4,353,892,000 |
$15,005,840,000 |
$13,900,000,000 |
| SC |
$12,052,684,000 |
$36,268,910,000 |
$43,200,000,000 |
| SD |
$182,870,000 |
$5,982,103,000 |
$4,700,000,000 |
| TN |
$1,602,802,000 |
$30,546,099,000 |
$23,200,000,000 |
| TX |
$13,781,228,000 |
$180,720,642,000 |
$142,300,000,000 |
| UT |
$3,611,399,000 |
$18,626,024,000 |
$16,500,000,000 |
| VT |
$461,551,000 |
$3,602,752,000 |
$3,300,000,000 |
| VA |
$10,723,000,000 |
$53,783,973,000 |
$48,300,000,000 |
| WA |
($179,100,000) |
$51,807,902,000 |
$42,900,000,000 |
| WV |
$4,968,709,000 |
$14,378,914,000 |
$11,100,000,000 |
| WI |
$252,600,000 |
$62,691,675,000 |
$56,200,000,000 |
| WY |
$1,444,353,000 |
$6,628,204,000 |
$5,400,000,000 |
| Total |
$1,000,000,000,000 |
$2,860,967,583,000 |
$2,485,800,000,000 |
Posted: March 4th, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Pensions, Press Release | Tags: Pensions, Press Release, State Budget Solutions | 3 Comments »
Middletown—Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth/Middlesex) today noted the Monmouth County Freeholders swift disciplinary action against workers involved in last week’s ‘sick-out’ of SCAT bus drivers:
“The Freeholders did the right thing by immediately suspending three individuals who called out sick on Friday, February 25th- only to be caught on camera at a protest in Trenton,” Kyrillos said. “The actions of these employees and others, who organized a disruption of bus service endangered the well-being of SCAT’s developmentally disabled and elderly clients. It is my hope that county officials will summarily be able to ascertain if others were absent without proper excuse and take appropriate action.”
Kyrillos also said the incident exemplifies the urgent need for civil service reform. “The fact that the civil service system may drag out the termination process for these employees is ludicrous,” Kyrillos said. “While some personnel matters are complex, getting caught on film being involved in an organized ‘sick-out’ and lying to your employer should be grounds for immediate termination. The fact that the system protects these employees from being fired on the spot, and may cost taxpayers thousands in legal proceedings, is reason enough to reform civil service laws.”
Posted: March 4th, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Joe Kyrillos, Public Employee Unions | Tags: Civil Service Rules, Joe Kyrillos, Press Release, SCAT | Comments Off on Kyrillos Commends Action On SCAT Employees
By Grace Cangemi
Yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling allowing members of the Westboro Baptist Church to “protest” at military funerals has left many people angry and distressed. The disrespectful, cruel, and outrageous demonstrations are offensive and hurtful in the extreme and even among those who defend the court’s decision; it’s hard to find anyone who defends the actions of this so-called church.
But these protests do have a positive side. Throughout the country, people have come together to honor the fallen and keep these protests away from the families of our soldiers. The unintended consequence of Westboro’s protests is that it has brought together patriots and volunteers to stand up for their country and those brave men and women who die defending it.
Groups like the Patriot Guard Riders, the Blue Knights, the Legion Riders, and Rolling Thunder, working nationally and with local organizations, meet with members of the military, local police, and family to make sure that these protestors can neither be seen nor heard by mourners as they lay their loved ones to rest.
Lining the streets with motorcycles, making flag lines, and escorting processions, these people stand between the families of our heroes and the ugliness of protestors like those from Westboro. Dedicated to a non-violent means of keeping protestors from disturbing families at these difficult times, volunteers do not confront protestors. In order to shield mourners, according to the Patriot Guard Riders website, members “simply hold or flags with our backs to the protestors. We, in no way, engage the protestor either verbally or physically. We may sing, rev our engines or say the Pledge of Allegiance…”
The Patriot Guard Riders started in Kansas in 2005 as a reaction to Westboro’s protests. They, like many other groups, only ride with permission of the family, and their primary goal is to show respect to our fallen soldiers. When you meet these people, you can’t help but be impressed by their sense of duty. Their patriotism is palpable, and their dedication unmatched. They came together largely because of Westboro. This ruling will help keep them together.
Westboro’s protests will also keep our soldier’s funerals in the news. Forgetting that we are at war can be too easy in a news cycle that leads with Charlie Sheen. So when the news is covering the outrage of Westboro’s demonstrations, we should take time to reflect on the fallen and comfort in knowing that groups like the Patriot Guard Riders are standing for those who stood for us.
Posted: March 3rd, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Grace Cangemi, Patriot Guard Riders, Westboro Baptist Church | Tags: Grace Cangemi, Patriot Guard Riders, Westboro Baptist Church | Comments Off on Patriot Guard Riders Sheild Families of Fallen Troops from Westboro Baptist Protesters
By Mayor Michael J. Mahon, Oceanport and Mayor Janet W. Tucci, West Long Branch
On behalf of the Governing Body of our respective communities, we are proud to announce a shared service agreement to provide emergency communications & dispatch services in a joint operation hosted by the West Long Branch Police in the their recently constructed state of the art facility on Broadway. Oceanport will pay West Long Branch $150,000 annually, cutting current annual costs for local dispatch by nearly 50% for each community. Annual increases of 2% are included in the agreement with the boroughs projecting a joint savings of $1.3 Million over the initial five (5) year term.
Leading the local effort has been a Joint Public Safety Committee with representatives from each municipality. Representing Oceanport has been Mayor Michael J. Mahon, Council Members Jay Briscione (now John W. Ibex) & William Johnson along with Police Chief Harold Sutton and Borough Administrator Kimberly A. Jungfer. Representing West Long Branch has been Mayor Janet W. Tucci, Council President Barbara Ruane, Council Members Christopher Neyhart and J. Thomas DeBruin along with Police Chief Arthur A. Cosentino, Captain Larry Mihlon and Borough Administrator John J. Kennedy.
Today marks the beginning of a cooperative effort to reduce the cost of essential services on local taxpayers and meet the requirements of the 2% Cap Law for both borough’s in their 2011 budget. This agreement establishes a single dispatch center in West Long Branch providing public safety communications for two police departments working together on a single frequency. At the same time, it provides a communications console in Oceanport as a back up and for local emergency operations. Thanks are due to the entire Oceanport and West Long Branch Council’s for supporting the efforts of the Joint Committee.
West Long Branch and Oceanport share history and a special relationship with each other dating back to our origins as municipalities and includes regional public schools, recreation programs, environmental advocacy and mutual aid for fire and first aid. Our focus on shared dispatch services as a means to controlling property taxes marks a time in New Jersey where the emphasis on doing more with less is ever present. This effort began in 2008 with the first 50% reduction in state aid for municipalities of less than 10,000 residents. Mayors Tucci and Mahon echoed the same concerns and encouraged our governing bodies to examine every opportunity to match services. Together we have forged this partnership to make the financial and technological resources available, and bring about a solution that protects our Public Safety personnel and serves our residents. Today, the reality is Oceanport and West Long Branch are in this together. And together we have worked, and will continue to work on completing this project. Discussions on merging or sharing other services are being studied.
Along the way we have needed the support and cooperation of the Police Departments; Chief Arthur Cosentino and Captain Larry Mihlon accompanied by Chief Harold Sutton and Captain Mauro Baldanza (Ret.). Their support and professionalism will determine our mutual success and we are depending on their continued commitment to this effort. The Joint Public Safety Committee will play a continuing role in accordance with the Inter Local Agreement. The next phase has already begun; equipment and software are being installed, and staff is being reduced through attrition or transfer. Joint dispatch operations are set to begin as early as April 1, 2011. Residents won’t notice a difference and will continue to dial 9-1-1 for emergencies and use the current non-emergency numbers for other police business
Posted: March 3rd, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Oceanport, Shared Services, West Long Branch | Tags: Oceanport, Shared Services, West Long Branch | Comments Off on Oceanport and West Long Branch To Share Emergency Communications and Dispatch Services
Will Attempt to Force Senate Consideration of Governor’s Conditional Veto
Trenton— In an effort to offer relief to property tax payers and prevent public safety layoffs, Senator Joe Kyrillos (R- Monmouth/Middlesex) will attempt to force consideration of the Governor’s conditional veto of S-2220, which eliminates payouts of unused sick time for public employees, at tomorrow’s Senate session.
“Rather than trying to override the Governor on bills the Majority cannot find the funds to support, the Senate should be passing unfinished toolkit legislation that will help avert public safety layoffs and property tax increases,” Kyrillos said. “Sick leave cash outs present an enormous strain on local government budgets that must be stopped. The Governor is absolutely right in requiring that these cash outs be phased out for all employees, current and future, in his veto message. Sick leave should be used when you are sick, not as a cash gift upon retirement.”
Kyrillos will motion that the conditional veto be taken up as the Senate’s “Order of the Day”. It is up to the Senate President to decide whether or not the motion is in order.
“I hope that the Senate President will hear, as I have, the call of police and firemen who are concerned about the impact of layoffs on our communities,” said Kyrillos. “We need to make tax dollars go farther by giving towns and counties the tools they need to reign in unnecessary costs and fund priorities that matter. Unused sick leave is a perfect example of a cost to local government that no longer needs to exist.”
Posted: March 2nd, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Joe Kyrillos, Press Release | Tags: Joe Kyrillos, Sick Leave Reform | Comments Off on Kyrillos To Seek Vote on Unused Sick Leave Reform
Trenton— Senators Jennifer Beck (R- Monmouth/Mercer) and Steve Oroho (R- Sussex/Hunterdon/Morris) have submitted legislation aimed at ending abuse of the state’s pension system. The bill, S-2716, would prohibit retired public employees that return to government service from collecting pension payments while on payroll.
“Pension payments should only be collected by those who have left the government payroll,” said Senator Beck. “Public employees who game the system by collecting a paycheck and a pension check simultaneously commit the worst kind of double dipping. New Jersey’s taxpayers are tapped out, our pension system woefully underfunded, and neither can tolerate this sort of abuse. Nobody should be able to line their pockets in this manner at public expense.”
The bill prohibits any public employee in the state retirement system from collecting a pension if he or she resumes public employment and is compensated more than $15, 000 annually. Those returning to service after retirement would not accumulate additional pension credits. The bill applies to all state pension plans.
“We must protect New Jersey’s pension systems and it is critically important that we protect the qualified status of those pensions, as well as end any unnecessary strains on the funds,” Oroho added. “There are a variety of good reasons retirees may wish to return to the workforce. However, for the purposes of collecting a pension, and to protect the qualified status of the plans, retired means retired.”
Posted: March 2nd, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Jennifer Beck, Pensions, Press Release | Tags: Jennifer Beck, Pension Abuse, Press Release, Steve Oroho | 8 Comments »
Middletown- In response to an apparent ‘sick-out’ staged by Monmouth County SCAT bus drivers, Senator Joe Kyrillos (R- Monmouth/Middlesex) called for the immediate firing of the 17 CWA workers involved:
“It is outrageous that 174 disabled and elderly clients who depend on SCAT were stranded by what appears to be a coordinated effort by employees to disrupt service without notice,” said Kyrillos. “The actions of these workers is completely unbecoming of any public servant, and should make every taxpayer in Monmouth County furious. CWA, the union representing these employees, needs to denounce their members for putting the well-being of these vulnerable individuals at risk, and the employees in question should be fired.”
Seventeen SCAT workers, including fourteen bus drivers for the developmentally disabled and senior citizens, took sick leave with no notice on Friday, February 25th- the same day as a coordinated demonstration organized by labor leaders at the State Capitol. Service was disrupted for 174 clients who take SCAT buses to medical appointments or work.
“The rights of workers to demonstrate, protest, and take appropriate leave from work for personal purposes are not disputed,” Kyrillos stated. “However, it is not their right to abuse sick leave and disrupt a system many people have come to rely on. In fact, it is a breach of contract and should be punished to the fullest extent possible. This type of behavior not only hurts the people SCAT serves, it harms the reputation of all public workers.”
Posted: February 28th, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Joe Kyrillos, Monmouth County, Press Release, Public Employee Unions | Tags: CWA, Joe Kyrillos, Monmouth SCAT, Press Release | 3 Comments »
If politics were a schoolyard fight, the most notorious bullies would be the leaders of the influential public sector unions. Their weapon of choice: the power to collectively bargain on behalf of their members, with absolutely no consideration for the taxpayers who actually pay the bills. The expedient alliance between the union leadership and politicians of both parties has built and enabled a system that has always been unfair, but today is unsustainable. Taxpayers have been beaten up for too long, with little to no help from the elected leaders whose job it is to protect the money used to finance government functions and services.
At the end of President Obama’s first year in office, the White House released a visitor’s log that identified a prominent union leader as its most frequent visitor. Andrew Stern, the president of the Services Employee Union International (SEIU) represented one of the country’s largest public employee unions. After his organization spent nearly $28 million to elect Barack Obama president in 2008, it was clear he would have a prominent voice inside the White House at a critical time.
Stern’s 22 listed visits came as the President was considering an auto bail-out that paid for the bad deals car companies made with the unions, the stimulus package that included payments to states to fulfill their obligations to public employees and a health care overhaul that ultimately exempted the unions’ “Cadillac health insurance plans” from the same mandates and scrutiny that every other American was subjected to.
In fact, of the over 200 entities that received temporary waivers from provisions in the new healthcare law, 45 were granted to union organizations. It is no wonder that the SEIU spent $44 million in the midterm elections in 2010, exclusively on behalf of congressional Democrats. Including spending by two other labor behemoths, the AFL-CIO and the American Federation of State Counties and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), big labor spent nearly $150 million dollars to preserve the Democrats majority in Congress. The taxpayers and an overwhelming majority of the American people had a different idea. With the results of the 2010 elections came a realization that the American people understood the challenges facing our states and nation better than most of the politicians and special interests that have dominated the political discourse for far too long. Newly elected reform minded governors, such as Scott Walker in Wisconsin and John Kasich in Ohio, also benefited from the example of a fellow reformer elected a full year ahead of them, and who had made a decade’s worth of progress in addressing his own state’s challenges; Chris Christie.
These leaders are doing their part to change the way their states do business and are making the tough choices that can come with a significant political risk. The unions are doing their job fighting them every step of the way, attempting to use the bullying tactics and threats that have worked for them for so many decades. For example, the New Jersey Education Association collected roughly $100 million of dues from about 200,000 members last year. How are they spending this money? In a $300,000 per week radio campaign encouraging higher taxes instead of budget cuts. Luckily, the old rhetoric of unions is lost amid the greater noise coming from the taxpayer revolt. It’s that noise that has to continue and convert into a sustained campaign among the taxpayers to counter the voices of a very vocal, and frankly better organized, minority of union interests who have never been faced with the sort of political opposition we are seeing today. When we find political leaders with the courage to do what is right, we have an obligation to back them up, not just stand on the sideline watching them fight the fight for us. We all learn in school that the only way to discourage a bully is to stand up to him. We’ve all seen that Chris Christie has the will and the backbone to endure $300,000 a week of name-calling and taunts from the teachers unions. If we see the same from like-minded reformers in Wisconsin, Ohio and elsewhere, and “we the people” stand with them, we will see the fundamental change we voted for in November, become a reality. If we stand by and allow these leaders to get overwhelmed by an opposition who believes that union workers should remain a privileged class, exempt from sharing the pain of a nation suffering a genuine crisis, than we would have no one to blame for our high taxes and dysfunctional government that ourselves.
Posted: February 28th, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Diane Gooch, Public Employee Unions | Tags: Diane Gooch, Public Employee Unions | 12 Comments »
Requests for Proposals To Be Issued Next Week for Monmouth Park
Trenton, NJ – Governor Chris Christie today moved forward with his commitment to making horse racing in New Jersey a self-sustaining industry by signing legislation to expedite the establishment of off-track wagering facilities in New Jersey. Another step forward comes early next week, when the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority will issue a request for proposals to bring a long-term solution to Monmouth Park through private operation.
On December 17, 2010, Governor Christie announced a break-through agreement to end public subsidies of operations and purses for Standardbred racing at the Meadowlands Racetrack through the lease of that facility to the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association (SBOA). Governor Christie is looking forward to similar progress with Monmouth Park and Thoroughbred racing there with the RFP for a private operator.
“We were successful in the Meadowlands, and we can do the same for Monmouth Park to the benefit of New Jersey taxpayers,” Governor Christie said. “I want to see a vibrant but self-sustaining horse racing industry in New Jersey, but that can be accomplished without tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies every year.”
Assembly Bill 1705, which Governor Christie conditionally vetoed on January 31 and the Legislature subsequently amended to include the Governor’s recommended changes, removes barriers to the establishment of OTWs by permitting persons other than racetrack operators to run OTW facilities, making OTWs a permitted use in all municipal land use zones, and increasing the accessibility to liquor licenses for OTW operators.
Despite enactment of an original OTW law nearly a decade ago, only three of the 15 facilities allowed by law were established. Governor Christie’s conditional veto was necessary to preserve the NJSEA’s ability to transfer licenses in connection with the sale or lease of the state’s racetracks. It also eliminated a 1 percent fee on OTW operators, but expressly noted that the Administration will work with the Legislature to find an alternative source of revenue for OTW host municipalities
Posted: February 25th, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Chris Christie, Horse Racing Industry, Monmouth Park | Tags: Chris Christie, Horse Racing Industry, Monmouth Park, Press Release | Comments Off on Governor Christie Moves Horse Racing Closer to a Self-Sustaining Model with Legislation to Expedite Off Track Wagering
