Unions To Dems: Shut Up About Port Authority Toll Hikes

By Art Gallagher

Politickernj is reporting that New Jersey’s construction unions are leaning on Democratic lawmakers not to criticise Governor Christie over the proposed 50% toll and fare hikes by the Port Authority of NY/NJ. Yet.

The labor unions want New Jersey commuters to fund the $33 billion in NY and NJ infrastructure projects, including the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, that the toll hikes will support.

Trenton Democrats and U.S. Senators Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg had initially come out strongly against the toll hikes.   Governors Christie and Cuomo claimed they were caught off guard by the toll hike proposal and would review it.  Most observers expect Christie and Cuomo to approve lower toll increases than the Port Authority has proposed.

Trenton Democrats are now holding their powder on criticising the proposed hikes, figuring that Christie will look good politically if he responds to the criticism by scaling back the increases.  Instead they will attack Republicans after the final hikes are approved.

Christie has blamed the need for toll hikes on years of mismanagement  in the Port Authority and has claimed that the people he has appointed are improving the operations and finances of the mega agency.  Cuomo said that the proposed toll hikes don’t work for him.

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Reduce Costs Before Raising Tolls: It Is Time To Reform “Prevailing Wage”

By Art Gallagher

Perhaps lost in the news of the S & P down grade of United States Treasury debt is the local news that the Port Authority of NY/NJ is calling for a massive toll and fare increases to fund capital projects.  Tolls on Hudson River crossings would increase from $8 to $12 and fares on the PATH trains would increase from $1.75 to $2.75.

Governors Christie and Cuomo issued a joint statement that signals that toll increases are coming, but at lower rate than proposed by the Port Authority Board.  We’ve seen this dance before.  Port Authority proposes a huge increase and the politicians scale it back.

Mark Magyar has a comprehensive article at NJSpotLight highlighting the “need” for the $1 billion revenue increase that Port Authority is requesting.

Governors Christie and Cuomo have established themselves as credible reformers in reducing the size of state government.  The proposal is another opportunity for them to improve government services and implement lasting reforms in the process.

Christie should use this opportunity to reform a major cost driver on public capital projects; “prevailing wage.”

“Prevailing wage” requires wages paid to employees of contractors working on government projects in New Jersey to be paid at a “union rate” determined by the unions and the Department of Labor, even if the winning bidders of the contractors are not union shops.

Eliminating the “prevailing wage” clause in government contracts would save taxpayers billions of dollars on construction projects.  There is a huge over supply of labor available.  Wages on government contracts should be set my market forces, not by unions who are making political contributions.  

The savings associated with eliminating this practice would go well beyond the Port Authority projects.  It would extend to DOT projects and county and municipal projects.  The saving to toll payers, fare payers and property tax payers would be substantial.

Another area for savings is the largess of salaries paid to the political patrons who run the Port Authority.  Just as Christie has mandates that school superintendents shall not earn more than the Governor, employees of the Port Authority should not earn more than the governors of New York and New Jersey.

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Joint Statement from New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Port Authority Toll Hike Plan

Trenton, NJ – New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie today released the following statement regarding the Port Authority’s proposed toll hike plan:”The Port Authority has informed us of its proposal to dramatically increase tolls on its tunnels and bridges and fares on the PATH.

While we understand the Port Authority leadership’s concerns about a potential downgrade to its bond rating if toll increases are not instituted, our primary concern with this proposal is its impact on our respective states’ residents and commercial users of the crossings.

A downgrade of the Port Authority’s bond rating does indeed pose a potentially disastrous result on a transportation network that millions of residents of the states of New Jersey and New York rely on and would be unacceptable.

We will review the proposal with that in mind but have obvious and significant concerns. The Port Authority is facing financial issues but so are families in the states of New York and New Jersey, and the answer cannot always be an indiscriminate and exorbitant increase in the cost to the taxpayer, or in this case, toll payer. As families must carefully and effectively manage their finances at this difficult time, so must government.

It is our joint intention to cooperatively address this issue without regard for partisanship or parochialism, as was the intention and spirit of the creation of the Port Authority as a regional entity in 1921.”

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Christie vs Cuomo

By Art Gallagher

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are both being hailed in the media for the “landmark” legislation they were able to get passed by their respective legislatures last week.  Christie got his pension and benefits compromise passed and Cuomo led New York into becoming the sixth state in the nation to give homosexuals the right to marry.

In what could be considered a level of dissatisfaction with the current field of 2012 presidential candidates, including President Obama, there is now a media buzz about both Christie and Cuomo competing for their respective party nominations for President in 2016.

While Christie and Cuomo have put together similar records of bringing fiscal discipline to their state’s budgets and pension systems, the two governors part ways over gay marriage.  Christie says he believes that marriage should remain between one man and one woman and points to the Democrats inability to pass a marriage equality law during the lame duck session in 2009-2010 when they controlled  both the legislature and Governor’s office.

Besides gay marriage, the other big difference between Christie and Cuomo is how use the media.

Christie is all over the national media…Piers Morgan on CNN two weeks ago, the Today Show last week, Meet The Press yesterday, MSNBC, Fox and Friends and Imus today, followed by Steve Malzberg on 710 AM radio and his monthly NJ 101.5 Ask The Governor gig tomorrow.

Cuomo has taken the exact opposite approach.  He told his staff not to discuss or speculate about his presidential ambitions and has turned down most requests for interviews from both the national and New York media during his first six months in office, according to Fredric U. Dicker writing in the New York Post:

Cuomo ordered his staff not to discuss or even speculate on the possibility that he harbors presidential ambitions.

He also directed his aides to turn down invitations to appear on several high-profile national news shows to discuss gay marriage, believing the media would turn them into discussions of a possible presidential campaign, administration insiders said.

“He’s seen this dance before, with his father,” said a source close to Cuomo, referring to former Gov. Mario Cuomo’s flirtation with a presidential run in 1992.

“It’s distracting and possibly destructive to a governor, and you have to shut it down immediately, immediately, because it will begin to fuel itself if you don’t.”

Cuomo has repeatedly turned down most requests for interviews by national and New York news outlets during his first six months in office, but interest exploded following Friday night’s gay-marriage vote.

“The governor also views the speculation as disrespectful to the position of governor, and it would make the governor look like just another politician looking to take the next step on the ladder, which is not the case,” the source said.

We’ve seen the Christie for President in 2012 or 2016 buzz fuel itself and be encouraged by the Governor.

When was the last time you saw a national TV interview with Mitch Daniels? Daniels withdrew from consideration for the GOP 2012 nomination and hasn’t been heard from on a national level since. Christie has repeatedly denied any interest in the 2012 race, saying he’s not ready. Yet Christie and the national media can’t get enough of each other.

Christie doesn’t see the national attention as being a distraction from his job. He’s made it part of his job. Christie’s probably the most televised governor in New Jersey history. And he hasn’t done a “Perfect Together” tourism commercial.

One thing I’ve come to believe about Christie since I started observing him in early 2009 is that he always has a purpose and a plan. Even when he speaks off the cuff, he’s on purpose and forwarding his plan.

Christie and his team are too smart to believe that all the attention he is getting now will have an impact in 2016.  If he’s not running for President now, as he insists, what could his purpose be in fueling all the national media attention?

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