Former congressional candidate Anna Little told a meeting of the Highlands Republican Club that the composition of the New Jersey Supreme Court is unconstitutional and “we do not have a Chief Justice as far as I am concerned.” She said she would file suit to challenge the new congressional district map if the court continues to have a vacancy when and if Chief Justice Stuart Rabner appoints a tie-breaking vote to the redistricting commission.
“Governor Christie did not reappoint Judge Wallace, who is on hold-over status,” said Little, “Senator Sweeney won’t approve Wallace’s replacement because Wallace is a Democrat.”
Justice John Wallace left the court in May of 2010 as a result of Governor Christie declining to reappoint him. Democrats have charged that Christie is tampering with the independence of the judiciary. Senate President Steve Sweeney has refused to hold hearings on Christie’s nominee to the court, Morris County Attorney Anne Patterson.
In an opinion issued in December, Associate Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto asserted that the Chief Justice Rabner does not have the authority to appoint a temporary justice to fill the vacancy unless necessary to fill a quorum on the court. Rabner appointed Appellate Judge Edwin Stern to fill the court’s seventh seat. Five justices constitute a quorum. Rivera-Soto said he would refrain from participating in decisions so long as Stern sits on the court, declaring that Rabner’s appointment of Stern was unconstitutional. Rivera-Soto later modified his position, stating that he would vote and issue opinions unless he decides to abstain. In between the two statements, Rivera-Soto informed Christie that he would not seek to be reappointed when he term expires in September. Many Democrats, notably Sweeney and former Senate President/Acting Governor Richard Codey have called on Rivera -Soto to resign immediately.
Little caused herself some problems during the 2010 congressional campaign while flashing her constitutional scholar credentials. In an October 2010 column, Star Ledger columnist Tom Moran said of Little,
“One is left with the feeling that Little hasn’t done her homework. Politics is refreshed by new faces and perspectives, but the best rookies study hard before they swing this wildly. The tea party is bringing us a new breed. They are angry, as we are often told. But isn’t there something arrogant about this, too?”
MMM doesn’t often agree with Moran, but the shoe seems to fit in this case.
George Stephanopoulos: Will the tragedy in Tucson usher in the year of civility that President Obama called for last night? How will both parties get back to the business of facing our common challenges? Here to take on those questions with us this morning, one of the rising stars of the Republican Party, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Thanks for coming in this morning.
Governor Chris Christie: Thank you George.
George Stephanopoulos: Did the president strike the right cords last night?
Governor Chris Christie: Yes. He did.
George Stephanopoulos: What did you think of his speech.
Governor Chris Christie: I said I thought it was excellent. I thought he did exactly what you want a leader to do at a moment like this which is to remind us of the things that we have in common. Remind us of the things that unite us, rather than divide us. And to not try to play politics at all, and the president hit all those things last night. So, I was really happy to see what he did.
George Stephanopoulos: You’re out there all the time with your constituents. I know you’re doing another town hall meeting today. Is this something that you expect — does it feel to you like this is a moment for the entire country?
Governor Chris Christie: Yeah. Listen, I think we have to be reflective. I think we should be having this kind of reflection on a regular basis. Because as you know, this is not an unusual period of vitriol in our country. In politics you know, if you look back we can say almost every presidential campaign, that you’ve seen high levels of vitriol and anger, bitter things being said about people that they probably didn’t deserve to have said about them. I think we have to constantly be examining ourselves for how we act as a civilize society. Doesn’t mean we can’t disagree, of course we disagree. But we should look at this all the time, not just have a tragedy to spur us to do it. Because we have to treat each other with some level of civility. Even when we disagree with each other.
George Stephanopoulos: Meanwhile, Sarah Palin coming under some criticism after using the term “blood libel.” Do you think she knew what she was getting into with that?
Governor Chris Christie: I don’t know. I have no idea. But what I would say is I think — I don’t think anybody really believes that Governor Palin was trying to make someone get hurt or bring violence on. And I think she just should have said that and left it at that.
George Stephanopoulos: Let’s move on to your own state of the state. You were giving a big speech this week, as well. And in your speech, you took credit for turning New Jersey around. From being a basket case. But some of your critics, some of the top democrats in the state, say your priorities are misplaced. One counted the number of the times you used jobs in the speech, said it was only four. Your response?
Governor Chris Christie: Cause we’re creating jobs not talking about it. When I came into office, unemployment was over 10% in New Jersey and above the national average. We’re still too high, we’re at 9.2 %. But we’re down almost a full point in a year, and we’re below the national average now. Last month in November one of every —
George Stephanopoulos: Still above 9%.
Governor Chris Christie: Yeah, I said we’re not good enough. And what I said — I didn’t say we turned it around. What I said in the speech was, the state of the state is improving, getting better every day. And last month in November, the last month we have for jobs in New Jersey, one of every five private-sector jobs created in America was created in New Jersey. So, our policies are helping to create jobs and create a positive business environment where the private sector wants to grow again. You know you can talk all you want about jobs. It’s about creating them and putting people back to work.
George Stephanopoulos: One of our big issues is also education reform. The former Chancellor of the DC Schools Michelle Rhee was in the audience, watching your speech. The president has hit on those themes of educational reform a lot. Is this an issue, where republicans and democrats can find common Cause?
Governor Chris Christie: Absolutely. Michelle Rhee’s a Democrat. I had Mayor Cory Booker in the audience, as well. We’re working on reforming the Newark public schools together, with Mark Zuckerberg for facebook and the Challenge Grant to the city of Newark. And I’ve said from the time of the campaign, when I was running in 2009, that President Obama and I agree on this issue. Agree much more than he did with my predecessor on issues of really education reform. This is the transformational issue that can also bring both parties together, if we just rise above the interests, the special interests that want to protect the failed status quo.
George Stephanopoulos: Tip O’Neill said all politics is local. You came under criticism after the post-Christmas blizzard, including from Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
[Start of clip from MSNBC’s Morning Joe]
Mayor Rudy Giuliani: If he asked for my advice? I would have said, they elected you governor. They got an emergency. They expect you to be there. You know – you’ve got to be there if you’re a governor, a mayor or even a president, if it’s important enough.
[End of clip from MSNBC’s Morning Joe]
George Stephanopoulos: He said you shouldn’t have been in Disney World.
Governor Chris Christie: Listen, I know you’ll find it shocking that two, strong-willed Italian guys from the northeast disagree about something. I have great respect for the Mayor, we disagree on this one, but we agree on so many more issues that Mayor Giuliani and I, two former U.S. Attorneys, will disagree at times on things, this is one that we do.
George Stephanopoulos: Finally, Rush Limbaugh has something of a man-crush on you.
Governor Chris Christie:[Laughter]
George Stephanopoulos: He and many others are trying to get you into the presidential race. You’ve said time and time again you’re not running. I take you at your word. But try to encapsulate what you think the Republican Party needs? Who they need to nominate? What kind of person in 2012?
Governor Chris Christie: We need to nominate someone who the American people believe will actually walk the walk, and not just talk the talk, on reducing the size of government, and bringing our tax structure and our spending, most importantly, under control. And that person has to prove they’re willing to do the difficult things, not just talk about them. Because they’ve heard plenty of talk. Especially from our party. You know, I said this fall, when we were campaigning for republican candidates around the country. This is the Republican Party’s last chance. It’s put up or shut up time for us now that we have won the House. We better do what we said we were going to do, or we’re going to get sent to the wilderness without a compass for a long time George, and we’re going to deserve it. Because we’ve talked about it, now let’s do it.
George Stephanopoulos: Okay, Governor Christie, thanks for coming in this morning.
174,943 – Constituents responded to by the Governor’s Office of Constituent Relations
104,000 – Students trapped in chronically failing schools in New Jersey who could benefit from bold education reforms put forward by Governor Christie to
bring accountability, competition and greater choice to New Jersey public education.
28,929 – Fans on the Governor Chris Christie Fan Page
Excerpts of Christie’s prepared State of the State address:
So there can be no question…The debate in Trenton has changed.
We have turned Trenton upside down.
But now, we must take the next step.
We must make even bigger changes in the year ahead if New Jersey is to be a place where families choose to live and work, and can afford to live and work.
It is traditional in state of the state messages to provide a long list of initiatives for the year ahead.
To touch on the plan for every department of state government.
Today, I am going to break with that tradition.
I want to highlight not the small things, but the major challenges that our state has ignored for too long, and that we must confront now.
For New Jersey: It’s time to do the big things.
For this year, the biggest things fall in three categories:
·One: We must stick to the course of fiscal discipline.
·Two: We must fix our pension and health benefit systems in order to save them.
·And three: We must reform our schools to make them the best in the nation.
On these three, what is at stake is no less than the future of New Jersey.
***
First, we must continue the process of getting our fiscal house in order.
We achieved balance in fiscal year 2011, but our long-term deficit problem is far from solved.
It took years— indeed decades — to build up, so it cannot be solved in one year.
So let’s be clear.
We can’t continue to spend money we don’t have.
We can’t print money, and we can’t run deficits.
So we have to continue to make some very tough decisions about what we can afford— and what we can’t.
Next month, I will present to you my budget for fiscal year 2012.
I will guarantee you this: It will be balanced, and it will not raise taxes. …
… When I talk of controlling spending, I am doing it for a reason.
I am not proposing to cut spending just for cutting’s sake.
I am fighting this fight because we have to be truthful about what we can’t afford—whether it is health and pension benefits which are out of line with the rest of the country, or a tunnel which we can’t pay for.
I am asking for shared sacrifice so that when we leave here, New Jersey will be more fiscally sound than when we got here.
I am asking for shared sacrifice in cutting what we don’t need so that we can invest in what we absolutely do need.
***
Some people say that getting spending under control and reforming the budget is the third rail of politics.
Well, I am here to tell you that I am not afraid to touch it— because its been said, opportunity expands in proportion to one’s courage.
So I ask you to join me in cutting the popular in order to fund the necessary.
And I will go further than that.
***
So we need comprehensive tax reform — and by that I mean changes that are considered together, not in a piecemeal approach.
In my budget next month, I will propose the initial installment of such a package.
But let’s be clear: We will not put in place tax cuts that we can’t pay for.
Any economic incentive package that I will sign will be enacted in the context, and only in the context, of a balanced budget.
***
The second big issue we must tackle this year is our antiquated and unsustainable pension and benefit system. …
… I am not proposing pension and benefit reforms just to be tight-fisted.
I am proposing pension reform for the police officers who have served— and contributed— for years, but who may find nothing when they retire a decade from now.
I am proposing pension reform for the firefighters who every day put their lives in danger to serve the public— and who have the right to expect that when the time comes, the public will serve them.
I am proposing pension reform for the teachers who put in the extra hours every day to help their students.
We now must put in the extra hours to ensure the system is solvent for them. …
… So to every beneficiary of the system: I am fighting for your pension.
And to the members of the legislature, I say: Please join me in doing so.
Now as part of our negotiation on interest arbitration, the leadership of the legislature promised to take up this necessary package of pension and benefit reforms.
Now is the time for us to finish what we started last March.
We should pass this package now.
If you do, I will immediately sign it into law.
***
The third critical action item for this year— perhaps the biggest thing of all for the future of our state— is education reform.
We cannot ask children and families stuck in chronically failing public schools to wait any longer.
It is not acceptable that a child who is neglected in a New Jersey school must accept it because of their zip code. …
… Here is what we must do:
We must empower principals.
We must reform poor-performing public schools or close them.
We must cut out-of-classroom costs and focus our efforts on teachers and children.
I propose that we reward the best teachers, based on merit, at the individual teacher level.
I demand that layoffs, when they occur, be based on a merit system and not merely on seniority.
I am committed to improving the measurement and evaluation of teachers, and I have an expert task force of teachers, principals, and administrators working on that issue right now.
And perhaps the most important step in that process is to give schools more power to remove underperforming teachers.
***
Now, let’s be frank.
The issues I have highlighted today are difficult. …
… no doubt, in the months ahead, we will have to fight.
Some might even say that I have been too ready for a fight— that my approach has been too tough and too combative.
That’s for a reason.
It is because the fight is important.
It is vital.
The reality is I’ll fight when it matters.
It matters because I have seen what so many New Jersey families are dealing with each day.
For them this is not about politics— it is about their life.
I fight when the issues are big— when it matters the most.
Sometimes that means we won’t agree.
Sometimes you will oppose my proposals, and I will oppose yours.
Sometimes I will veto a bill.
But when I do so, it will because I genuinely believe it’s in the best interest of the people of New Jersey.
***
In the last year, we have begun a new movement in New Jersey.
A movement back to our roots.
Back to economic dynamism and growth.
Back to pride in our State.
We cannot say today where it will lead and all that will come of it.
But we know that the path of change is better than the path of stagnation that we were on.
I was determined when I took the oath of this office to give the people an honest assessment of our problems.
To tell them the truth, even if it was difficult and my proposed solutions were unpopular.
And to this day, I ask that I be measured by that standard—I will always do what I said I was going to do.
Governor Chris Christie signs his letter to President Obama requesting FEMA disaster relief this moring at the Monmouth County Hall of Records. Assembly Members Mary Pat Angelini, Caroline Casagrande and Dave Rible, background.
Trenton, NJ –
To help New Jersey municipalities and counties recover costs from this week’s severe winter snowstorm, Governor Chris Christie today signed a letter to President Barack Obama seeking a major disaster declaration to secure federal funding and ensure New Jersey communities most affected by the storm receive all possible resources to address extraordinary and unforeseen costs from the snow emergency.
“My pledge is to do all we can to help our municipalities and counties in the aftermath of the blizzard, to clean up and to ease the storm’s financial impact,” Governor Christie said. “I want New Jersey to be in the best possible position to receive disaster aid through a prompt application to the federal government and FEMA.
”In the face of such a ferocious and unusual winter storm, our Department of Transportation, State Police and other agencies mounted an effective response, maximized resources and worked tirelessly for days. The eastern municipalities and counties most impacted also did the best they could under very difficult circumstances. There are always concerns about how things could have gone better, but the fact is this was a rare and unanticipated force of nature that hit our state, and we owe our thanks to all those who worked tirelessly to get us through it.”
Also today, Governor Christie announced the distribution of more than $11.18 million in FEMA disaster aid from successful applications following major storms earlier this year. Distribution of payments to municipalities and counties began yesterday and will continue through Monday. Payment amounts to some of the hardest hit counties from those storms include, for example, $386,344 to Camden County, $308,936 to Burlington County, $291,612 to Gloucester County, $284,561 to Atlantic County, $278,638 to Cumberland County and $278,091 to Salem County. Payments for amounts ranging from thousands of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars will go to dozens of other municipalities and counties.
In his letter to President Obama, the Governor noted that storm conditions in 13 counties exceed the standards set to qualify for federal disaster assistance. The qualifying counties are Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Cumberland, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset and Union. New Jersey, through data being collected by the State Police Office of Emergency Management, will provide additional supporting information following the completion of a Preliminary Damage Assessment pursuant to FEMA’s Snow Assistance Policy.
The snowfall, which began the morning after Christmas, broke many of the historic records established and maintained by the National Weather Service and National Climatic Data Center, as described in an attachment to the Governor’s letter.
“In light of these severe conditions, federal assistance is critical to properly and fairly mitigate the financial impact of this major snowstorm on State and local budgets, which are both currently under tremendous pressure due to severe economic conditions,” Governor Christie wrote in his letter to the President.
Governor Christie urged counties and municipalities to prepare damage and cost assessments as quickly as possible to move the aid application process along as expeditiously as possible.
It snowed too much too fast. That’s what went wrong in New Jersey this week. New York too.
It wasn’t a personal snowstorm, yet naturally many, if not most, people relate to the aftermath of a storm out of their personal concerns. The numb minded media, especially the Asbury Park Press editorial board, who is once again is living up to their Neptune Nudniks moniker, granted a full page in the print edition to selfish rants, 12 pages on their website, contributing to an online frenzy of wind-bagging.
The Nudniks are contributing to directly to the frenzy with yet another editorial premised on inaccurate information and assumptions. They say the storm was predicted days in advance. Hogwash. Forecasts as late as Saturday night were predicting snow falls in Central Jersey in the 12-18 inch range. It wasn’t until just a few hours before the storm hit that any forecaster was talking about accumulations of 25-30 inches with 55 mph winds. Folks in Buffalo or Syracuse might be expected to be prepared for the type of storm we got, but the truth of the matter is that New Jersey’s various governments don’t have the equipment or the personnell to handle the this type of weather quickly. That is why the clean up is continuing now, 48 hours after the snow stopped falling.
The Nudniks started their editorial rant accusing road crews of “surrendering” to the storm.
I was out Sunday night to plow my properties. The DOT crews were out. The visablity was terrible. It was dangerous to be plowing. It was snowing too hard too fast.
If they were not still out there cleaning up, I would suggest those crews dump truck loads of snow that they surrendered to at APP headquarters in Neptune. Cancelled subscriptions should suffice for cooler heads.
It snowed too much to fast. That is what happened. There have been lots of rumors and comments that there have been job actions and sick outs in some towns and maybe the state. Given how well Monmouth County’s crews performed vis-a-vis many towns and the DOT, you have to wonder. Investigations should take place and corrective action taken where appropriate. However the APP should be tracking down the validity of those rumors rather than wind-bagging that road crews “seem to have” quit on the storm.
The media driven brouhaha over Governor Christie and Lt. Governor Guadagno being out of state at the same time is as absurd and insulting as the Nudniks’ assumption that road crews quit.
As published elsewhere and confirmed by MMM, Guadagno and her brothers are spending what is most likely their last Christmas holiday with their father who is suffering from Stage 4 prostate cancer. The trip was planned and booked months ago with Christie’s approval. Shame on the pundits and politicians who have been trying to score points over Guadagno’s absence.
Once the news about why Guadagno is “on vacation” at the same time as the Governor gets around, watch he feeding frenzy on Christie step up. I’m looking forward to his first press conference back. I hope he shames the mindless numbskulls of the press.
There’s little going on in Trenton this week. That’s why it was a good week for the Governor to take his family to Disney World. Guadango’s situation made the decision to take a vacation delicate. Senate President Steve Sweeney’s good character made the vacation doable. But various pundits and political hacks won’t care. Let the Christie kids give up one more thing because their Dad is tough to lay a political glove on.
Does anyone really doubt that Christie would have returned to New Jersey given the “state of emergency” if it was possible? The airports were closed. They are just opening today.
Christie’s presence would not have made a difference in how the snow was cleaned up, or not cleaned up. His leadership from the bully pulpit would have made a difference though. He would have told the media the truth. It snowed too much too fast. We’re doing the very best that we can and we’re working about the clock, he would have said. He would have done a much better job than New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg did when he told NY that everything is OK and that they should go shopping. Christie would have told people to remain calm and safe; to look out for the elderly and disabled. And the media would have had something responsible to write about, rather than create a frenzy over the fact that it snowed too much too fast.
Paul Mulshine says he will blame Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno if his cat poops on the rug. Really, he said that.
Mulshine’s cat usually poops outdoors, but the usual spot, probably on a neighbor’s property, is snow covered and the pussy won’t go where it usually goes. Mulshine wasn’t prepared for the storm. He couldn’t navigate the snow covered roads to get kitty litter so his pussy would have a warm place to do it.
Guadagno is at fault because she’s on vacation out of state at the same time Governor Christie is out of state, leaving Senate President Steve Sweeney in charge as Acting Governor.
Mulshine speculates that Guadagno vacationing at the same time as Christie could be the end of her political career. He quotes Rick Shaftan as saying that “nothing will screw up your poll numbers more than snow.” Shaftan, who is famous for talking to Mulshine and for running Steve Lonegan’s 2009 gubernatorial primary, noted that former New York Mayor John Lindsay lost the 1969 GOP primary due to mishandling a snow storm. Lindsay was reelected on a third party line.
If Shaftan, Lonegan, Mulshine and the ideologues were in charge of the NJ GOP, like they want to be, a third party candidate could get elected in New Jersey too.
Mulshine and Shaftan speculate that Guadagno wants the GOP nomination to run against U.S. Senator Bob Menendez in 2012. Yet another example of ideologues who can’t count.
If the NJ GOP mounts a top tier talent challenge to Menendez in 2012 we’re in deep trouble as a nation. Barack Obama will be on the top of the Democratic ticket in 2012. The only way a Republican is going to win a state wide race in 2012 is if Obama is unelectable in New Jersey. If that is the political environment in 2012 the economy will be in worse shape than it is now. Obama’s poll numbers are over 50% in NJ now, as bad as things are.
Mulshine and Shaftan have a strange bedfellow in windbag Senator Ray Lesniak who called in from Florida to criticise Guadagno and Christie for leaving Sweeney in charge of cleaning up the snow.
Sweeney assured Christie he wouldn’t create mischief while keeping the Governor’s seat warm. If Christie didn’t trust Sweeney to keep his word, other arrangements would have been made. If Sweeney breaks his word, other arrangements will be made in the future.
The constitutional purpose of the Lt. Governor’s office is to prevent one person from controlling two-thirds of the state government, as was the case when Dick Codey was Governor and Senate President after Jim McGreevey’s resignation and when Don DiFrancesco held both offices after Christine Whitman’s resignation. The current banter is nonsense.
Paul Mulshine wrote a blog post last week wherein he wittingly or not shed light on the puzzle of New Jersey’s conservative ideologues.
Mulshine was tauting a post by the blogger formerly known as Manly Rash that suggested that NJ GOP Chairman Jay Webber should be replaced because he canceled a meeting of the State GOP Committee. Conservatives have been upset that the NJGOP has not adopted the GOP’s 2008 National Platform, particularly its pro-life planks.
The various NJ Tea Parties and Steve Lonegan’s Americans for Prosperity had planned to demonstrate at the scheduled meeting in order to gain support for various proposed resolutions before the committee,” Support for the Governor’s reforms at the DRPA,Joining the lawsuit against Obamacare, Stopping the implementation legislation for Obamacare in New Jersey, Support for New Jersey Citizens’ right to privacy when flying (TSA pat-downs), and Repealing the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) which is New Jersey’s own version of the Obama administration’s “Cap and Trade” energy tax,” according to Rash.
Webber said he canceled the meeting because he and other members were busy in Trenton with the legislature in session. The ideologue conservatives adopted a conspiracy theory that Webber cancelled the meeting to silence them.
This conservative blogger supports each of the initiatives that Rash wrote of and supports the pro-life plank of the National GOP platform. This conservative blogger also supports Jay Webber and Governor Chris Christie. The latter has earned me the RINO label from some. I’ve even been nicknamed Arlen.
Mulshine says, conservatives are supposed to stand on principle. He says Webber violated principle when threw his support to Chris Christie in the 2009 GOP Gubernatorial primary over Steve Lonegan. The principle of “Loneganwas perhaps the cheapest skinflint ever to run for office in this great state. He really meant to cut state government.”
The principle that Webber, Christie, and even Senator Mike Doherty who has earned the Loneganites scorn, are guilty of violating is the principle of irrelevancy. The cutting your nose off dispite yourself principle.
Yet Mulshine surprised me in his blog post. Despite his nearly constant criticism of Christie for not fulfilling all of his campaign promises in 11 months, Mulshine wrote this line that demonstrates that he can occassionally see beyond his blinders:
“Webber, despite his conversion, is a huge improvement on Tom Wilson, the prior chairman, who agitated for driver’s licenses for illegal aliens. And Christie, despite his flaws, is a huge improvement over Jon Corzine.
But this is just another reminder that the New Jersey Republican Party has a long way to go.”
My apologies to Tom Wilson.
The New Jersey Republican Party does have a long way to go. However, it has come further in the last year under the leadership of Christie and Webbler than any observer could have predicted. Had Lonegan been the GOP nominee in 2009, a battle that Mulshine and many other ideological conservatives keep fighting 18 months after they lost it, Jon Corzine would still be governor. Much of the progress the GOP made this year, in New Jersey and nationally, would not have happened. More importantly, much of the progress New Jersey made this year would not have happened.
The conundrum of conservative ideologues is that they are more likely to be right, “standing on principle” and lose as they watch life get worse than they are to work with those they agree with on most issues and win.
It’s easier to be right and be a wind bag than it is to win and do the hard work of correcting decades of damage while in the minority. Rash says leadership is standing on principle. Yet, thanks in large measure Christie’s work this year, Democrats in Trenton are adopting smaller government principles. Which is more effective leadership? Going down in defeat while being right and then wind bagging or having your political adversaries shift their agenda? I’ll take the latter.
As we head into 2011 with the entire State Legislature up for reelection, ideologues have a critical choice to make. Based upon history one might expect them to undermine the progress by targeting otherwise “safe” Republican legislators in primaries with more ideologically pure opponents. All that would accomplish is to put safe seats at risk.
The smarter and more difficult choice would be to work with, rather than against, those they agree with most of the time to pick up Democratic seats in the legislature. The ideologues would serve New Jersey better by focusing their criticism on potentially vulnerable Democrats and shifting their focus, even if only temporarily, away from RINOs.
If the “hard right” can move public opinion in New Jersey to the right, as was done nationally this year, RINOs and Democrats will follow.
Trenton, NJ – Fulfilling a critical element of his Reform Agenda, Governor Chris Christie today signed comprehensive arbitration reform legislation as part of a wider set of far-reaching reforms designed to curb property tax costs for hard-working New Jerseyans. The measure is the result of a bipartisan agreement reached on December 9 with legislative leadership to change the long-overdue interest arbitration reform process by providing municipalities with the tools they need to rein in property tax costs and live within their means.
“Today, Trenton is demonstrating what can be done when we work together to find substantive solutions to the issues facing the hard-working taxpayers of our state,” said Governor Christie. “Working with Senate President Steve Sweeney, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean and Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce, we are delivering meaningful and substantive reform to New Jerseyans, transforming the interest arbitration process and providing a long-term solution that will help local governments keep property taxes down and costs under control.
“Our work, however, is not done, and I urge the legislative leadership to keep the momentum going by acting on other critical pieces of the tool kit of reforms that will ultimately help to keep property taxes low. New Jerseyans can no longer afford inaction and delay which is why the legislature must move on real, comprehensive civil service reform as I have proposed, not a watered-down version,” concluded Governor Christie.
The civil service bill proposed by the legislature falls short by, among other things, not offering municipalities the option to opt-out of the antiquated and burdensome civil service requirements. As proposed by Governor Christie, arbitration and civil service reform get at the root of the problem faced by many local governments struggling to live within their means – ever-expanding operational costs.
Also awaiting legislative action is Governor Christie’s conditional veto of Senate Bill 2220, which would more effectively stop the abuse of sick and vacation benefits and prevent future use of sick days — meant for employees who are sick — as supplemental cash payouts for employees who already have generous pensions. Among improvements to the original bill, the conditional veto would phase out the practice of distributing cash payouts for sick days by prohibiting supplemental compensation for sick days that accumulate after the effective date of the legislation. It would also suspend supplemental compensation for any employee under indictment for a crime that involves or touches his or her public office and mandate the forfeiture of any supplemental compensation if convicted. The Governor continues to urge the legislature to act quickly to adopt the substantive changes in the conditional veto. The news release outlining the Governor’s conditional veto can be found HERE.
The bipartisan agreement signed into law today mirrors Governor Christie’s call for a meaningful cap that matches the tax levy cap of 2.0. This 2 percent cap will be applied to all salary items, such as across the board and cost of living increases, step increment payments and longevity pay. In addition, there will be no additional exceptions for non-salary economic terms moving forward. The agreement also created a prohibition on allowing non-salary economic issues to be arbitrated above the cap, unless already included in an existing contract. This is an important provision because arbitrators will no longer be able to create new cost items in successor contracts.
The Christie Bipartisan Agreement on Interest Arbitration Reformsigned today:
·Provides a meaningful cap of 2 percent on arbitration awards that will be applied to all salary items, such as the cost of across the board and cost of living increases, step increment payments and longevity pay.
·Has no Exceptions for Additional Non-Salary Economic Terms Moving Forward. The agreement prevents arbitrators from awarding any new economic items moving forward. The agreement creates a prohibition on allowing non-salary economic issues to be arbitrated above the cap, unless already included in an existing contract. All salary items are subject to a maximum 2 percent cap. This is an important provision because arbitrators will no longer be able to create new cost items in successor contracts.
·Eliminates Accruing Labor Costs By Creating a Fast Track Arbitration Process. The agreement transforms the system by putting in place concrete deadlines to help eliminate delays in the arbitration process, from contract negotiation to the receipt of the actual award. Traditionally, once a contract expires, labor costs continue to mount until a new contact is reached. Enforcing deadlines and speeding up the process will ensure timely implementation of new contracts and the cap on interest arbitration awards. Effective January 1, 2011, there will be a concrete deadline of 45 days from the filing of a request for interest arbitration to the date of award, without any extensions. All appeals must be decided within 30 days, if arbitrators do not comply with the 45 day deadline, they will be penalized financially.
·Caps Arbitrator Pay. The agreement will cap arbitrator compensation at $1,000 per day and $7,500 per case. Capping arbitrator pay will further incentivize speedy resolution of arbitration cases.
·Increases Ethical Standards and Training for Interest Arbitrators.
·Randomizes the Selection of Interest Arbitrators.
The legislation also creates a Task Force to examine the impact of interest arbitration reform and the effectiveness of the cap on restricting municipal spending. The taskforce will study the impact of the cap on taxes, services, expenditures, public safety, recruitment, retention and professionalism. The Governor will directly appoint four members and two members will be directly appointed by the Senate President and Assembly Speaker. The Task Force will provide its recommendations no later than December 31, 2013.
Since September, Governor Christie has been traveling the state to talk about the importance of enacting a tool kit of reforms to help local government leaders directly address cost drivers and manage within Cap 2.0 without adversely impacting core government services. Hundreds of mayors and local elected officials across political parties have voiced their support for the tool kit, and underscored the tool kit’s importance in helping them manage their local budgets.
By Art Gallagher
