Article

Leaders end rift over pension bill, while unions protest any change
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 • BY DEBORAH HOWLETT AND DUNSTAN McNICHOL • Star-Ledger Staff

Gov. Jon Corzine and legislative leaders ended a week of bickering over pension reforms yesterday, only to face brush fires over other key components of the property-tax reform package.

As thousands of angry union workers rallied on the Statehouse steps, Senate President Richard Codey and Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts shuttled between the governor's office and the chamber floors, where rank-and-file lawmakers balked at some of the most significant reforms that arose from four months of special legislative hearings.

The entire package is "still very much alive," Codey (D-Essex) said, but he added it is unlikely legislators will wrap up their work by their end-of-the-year deadline.

"Will we have a full vote and passage by the end of the year? Doubtful," Codey said. "But we'll have an agreement real soon."

"We're working on it," Corzine said when asked about the fate of the tax-reform package as he arrived at Codey's annual holiday fundraiser at the Pleasantdale Chateau in West Orange last night. "I think it's too hard to predict, but we're working at it."

Progress, however, was hard to measure yesterday.

In the Senate, lawmakers deferred action on bills to give county school superintendents veto power over local school spending; revamp school board elections; create a special state comptroller's office to monitor state and local spending, and set up a special committee to target town governments for elimination.

"Everything has been happening so quickly, it will take a little time to go through each" of the proposals, Sen. Nicholas Sacco (D-Hudson) said. "The last thing anybody wants is to rush anything through."

The Assembly did approve a slate of nine bills aimed at property-tax reform in a session that began in midafternoon and dragged on until 8:15 p.m. Along the way, concerted opposition from Essex and Hudson county Democrats nearly scuttled the school board vote and county superintendent bills.

"It's a massive state takeover with no guarantee of property tax relief," said Assemblyman Louis Manzo (D-Hudson), one of five lawmakers who abstained from voting. "We don't do DYFS right. We don't do school construction right. We're going to do this right?"

The Senate plans to take up amended versions of the bills Thursday, in the last scheduled voting session before the Legislature recesses for the holidays. The Assembly would then have to vote again on the revised versions.

"This is some of the toughest stuff being done by the Legislature certainly in my memory," Roberts (D-Camden) said outside the governor's office after meeting with Corzine for nearly a half-hour. "With the leadership of the governor and the Senate president and hopefully myself, we're trying to fit all the pieces together."

'BACK OFF'

As lawmakers haggled over the measures in party meetings, nearly 7,000 fired-up union workers filled State Street outside, carrying red foam signs in the shape of a hand that read "Back Off," and chanting, "We are not the problem."

Teachers and public employees object to many of the proposals, most specifically plans to reduce retirement benefits and consolidate school districts. They were also angry at not being given a larger voice in the four-month process to draw up the reform package. Lawmakers advanced 98 recommendations to reduce government costs and cut local property taxes.

"The problem with the legislative process is it's not like going to ShopRite and getting to the checkout and ringing it out," said Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), who sponsored one of the few reform bills that won approval yesterday. The measure would establish a commission to target specific local governments for elimination. "The goal here," he said, "is to reach consensus."

Progress on the special package of bills has been stalled since last week, when Corzine short-circuited the Legislature's plans to overhaul pension and health benefits for teachers and government workers. Corzine said he wanted those issues to be negotiated in ongoing contract talks with state worker unions.

That threatened to undermine the entire property tax reform plan, Codey and Roberts complained, prompting Corzine to issue a letter telling the leaders to pass whatever they could and he would sort them out with his veto pen when they landed on his desk.

By the end of yesterday, tempers had cooled. Codey and Roberts agreed to leave it to Corzine to negotiate pension and benefit changes with the unions while they would move ahead with a bill dealing with elected and appointed officials.

"We're very much on the same page," Roberts said after his meeting with Corzine. "There was a change in direction by the administration, but I think this is a work in progress."

Codey wasn't ready to concede agreement with Corzine on all points.

"There's no hard feeling on my part and his part. More than anything this was a lack of communication," Codey said. "There's not unanimous satisfaction with every aspect of every bill. We really want to focus and get to the meat of the issue, which is property tax reduction."

Republicans were amused by the fireworks.

"There's some confusion within the Democratic Party and it's difficult to decipher," Sen. William Gormley (R-Atlantic) said.

Asked if the reason for the difficult in moving legislation was due more to the Democratic bickering or to the protests by the union, Gormley said: "This is a cafeteria plan to place blame. You can place blame a lot of places."

Negotiation inside, anger outside

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