O’Scanlon: Trenton Gamesmanship Must Stop To Avoid Financial Disaster

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.

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BIPARTISAN EQUINE SYMPOSIUM A SUCCESS, BOUGHT MORE THAN 80 ATTENDEES TO LEARN ABOUT IMPACT OF INDUSTRY ON NEW JERSEY

Yesterday’s Equine Symposium, co-hosted by Senator Jennifer Beck, Senator Paul Sarlo, Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, Assemblywoman Connie Wagner, Assemblyman Ralph Caputo brought more than 80 attendees including elected officials, equine experts, business owners and breeders to Perretti Farms to discuss the present challenges to New Jersey’s equine industry and possible solutions to facing those challenges.

“The goal of today’s event was to educate interested parties on the far-reaching effects of the horse industry in New Jersey,” said Casagrande, “and I believe it was quite a success. By bringing together experts from all equine and equine-related industries in New Jersey, as well as legislators from both sides of the aisle who believe in a future for horse racing in our State, we were able to create a full picture of exactly how vital this industry is to the economy in New Jersey.”

“We hosted this event in order to educate people on the complexity of this industry,” said Beck, “and possible long-term strategies that are needed to run these businesses. The equine industry is an important economic driver in our State, bringing in jobs and revenue. Today we heard in more definite terms the impact it has on Monmouth County and New Jersey. The numbers don’t lie. Horse racing was a self-sustaining industry until 2007 when gaming competition began appearing on our borders, and with the right type of out-of-the-box thinking, it can be that again, and New Jersey can once again take it’s place as a world leader in this area.”

Speakers at the Symposium included Karyn Malinowsi, Director of the Equine Science Center at Rutgers University; Anthony Perretti, owner of Perretti Farms; Tom Swales, President of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Association; Tom Luchento, President of the SBOANJ; Dennis Drazen, Chairman of the New Jersey Racing Commission; Rick Wills, owner of Rick Saddle Shop; and Dr. Scott Palmer, NJ Equine Clinic.

Also in attendance were Freehold Director Lillian Burry, Assemblyman Joe Malone, Assemblyman Ronald Dancer, Assemblywoman Alison McHose and Assemblywoman DiAnne Gove.

The discussion ranged from the dollars and cents the equine industry brings to New Jersey to its contribution of maintaining nearly 200,000 acres of open space throughout the State.

“As we heard here today,” said O’Scanlon, “the horse industry is not simply racing and racetracks. It’s hay and feed suppliers, it’s drivers and jockeys, tack suppliers, and veterinarians. We will continue to work with all of these industries in our efforts to make the horse racing in New Jersey, not just sustainable, but maintain its place in the world arena.”

“I fear that if the Meadowlands Racetrack closes,” said Wagner, “there will be a ripple effect that negatively impacts not only the gaming industry in NJ but several sectors of our economy and thousands of jobs will be lost as a result.  The racetrack is in Bergen County but the financial impact will be felt statewide.”

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BIPARTISAN GROUP TO HOST EDUCATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

A bipartisan group of State Legislators will be hosting a Symposium on the Equine Industry in New Jersey on September 27^th at Perretti Farms, New Jersey’s largest horse farm, in Cream Ridge from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. as an opportunity to educate fellow legislators and other New Jersey residents about the importance of horse and horse-related industries to the State’s economy.

The event is co-hosted by Senator Jennifer Beck, Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, Assemblyman Ralph Caputo and Assemblywoman Connie Wagner.

“Recently,” said Assemblywoman Casagrande, “there has been a great deal of discussion about the future of the horse racing industry in New Jersey. It is our hope that this event will serve as an opportunity to learn about the present state of the equine industry, the challenges it currently faces, and possible solutions to make it once again a self-sustaining industry.”

“We are hosting this event at the largest standardbred horse farms in New Jersey,” said Senator Beck, “so that people can see firsthand the complexity and long term strategy needed to breed and raise racehorses. This fall, Perretti Farms has approximately 100 yearlings bred from some of the best standardbred horses in the State. Farms like this are an important economic engine for New Jersey.”

“Horseracing alone is a $4 billion industry in New Jersey,” said Assemblyman O’Scanlon, “and horse-related professions account for around 13,000 jobs in the State. This event will provide a venue for a discussion that all interested parties need to have about the survival and sustainability of this industry.”

Among the featured guest speakers are Karyn Malinowski, from the Rutgers University Equine Science Center; Anthony Perretti, a standardbred breeder; Tom Swales, president of the Thoroughbred Breeder’s Association of New Jersey; and Peter Furey, Executive Director of the New Jersey Farm Bureau.

This event is a bipartisan, educational opportunity to continue the discussion on the future of horse racing and gaming in New Jersey.

“Horse racing is an essential component of New Jersey’s gaming industry,” said Assemblyman Caputo, “and we must do all we can to support it by enticing customers back to the racetracks and the Atlantic City casinos alike.  The installation of video lottery terminals (VLTs) at the Meadowlands is something to seriously consider in order to stem the tide of gambling revenue flowing out of New Jersey to racinos and casinos in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Delaware.”

“Discussions such as the ones we will have at this Symposium are vital to continued economic growth in New Jersey,” said Senator Paul Sarlo. “I am eager to see in-depth discussions continue that include both the equine industry and casinos so that the best solution can be found for our State.”

Perretti Farms is located at 329 State Highway 526, Cream Ridge, New Jersey and can be contacted by calling 609-259-7555

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