Unions lobby legislative panel to preserve collective bargaining Friday, October 13, 2006 • BY ROBERT SCHWANEBERG • Star-Ledger Staff Lawmakers looking for ways to cut property taxes got a message yesterday from unionized state workers: Don't do it by legislating away gains won at the negotiating table. "The Legislature has no legitimate role whatsoever interfering with collective bargaining," Bob Master, political director for the Communications Workers of America, the largest union of state workers, said at a sometimes raucous hearing in Trenton. "CWA will do everything in our power -- everything -- to protect the principle of collective bargaining," Master said. The room, packed with CWA members wearing the red or purple T-shirts of their locals, erupted with applause. Undeterred, some members of the Joint Legislative Committee on Public Employee Benefits Reform said certain abuses should be corrected in the Legislature rather than at the bargaining table. As an example, Sen. William Gormley (R-Atlantic) cited excessive retirement payouts for accumulated sick leave. He suggested a statewide ceiling of $15,000 imposed by law. Joyce Powell, president of the New Jersey Education Association, the largest teachers union, said some public employee unions have accepted such ceilings during negotiations and gotten other concessions in return. It would be wrong, she said, to impose such a limit unilaterally through legislation. Gormley disagreed. "It's offensive to people, the size of these buyouts," he said. The crowd hissed. Yesterday afternoon, a different legislative panel heard proposals to slash property taxes through a surcharge on income and to put teeth into an existing provision requiring voters to approve state borrowing. Assemblyman Louis Manzo (D-Hudson), a member of the Joint Legislative Committee on Constitutional Reform, said his "Smart" bill would make the total tax burden lower for most residents and fairer for everyone. He explained it would raise $2.4 billion through a surcharge on the income tax that would be used to provide a credit for half of the school tax portion of local property tax bills. After paying the surcharge, all but the top 1 percent of income earners in the state would come out ahead, Manzo said. "Everyone winds up paying their fair share," Manzo said, adding that senior citizens on fixed incomes "actually benefit the most." Other committee members said they would consider the idea, although some expressed concern about raising already steep income tax rates. Manzo produced a chart showing that couples earning more than $100,000 pay higher income taxes on average in Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and Delaware. The two Republicans on the committee, Senate Minority Leader Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon) and Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Morris), called for strengthening a constitutional provision requiring voter approval for state borrowing. Merkt said total state debt has increased sevenfold over the past 15 years largely because of borrowing done without voter approval. Lance blamed fiscal gimmickry by both Republican and Democratic administrations -- and state Supreme Court rulings permitting it -- for subverting what had been an "ironclad" requirement that borrowing must be approved by voters. "I have great faith in the people to decide good debt from bad debt," Lance said. John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at jmooney@star ledger.com, or 973-392-1548. © 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.