Dr. Dreyfuss musings
What a way to govern a state>
TRENTON — As southern New Jersey dealt with the economic damage of a casino shutdown, Assembly Democrats sought Wednesday night to finally vote on a budget that is six days past deadline. The Assembly Budget Committee will vote this morning on a series of alternatives to offset Gov. Jon S. Corzine's $1.1 billion proposal to increase the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent. Among them are a $45 million extension of casino taxes set to expire this year and an expansion of the sales tax to include computer services, magazines and other items.
The Assembly budget also would eliminate the tax of hospital beds and the proposal for rural towns to pay $24 million for State Police patrols. It cuts $57 million from the budget, but reduces payments to the public employees pension fund by $200 million.
“This is a balanced budget that does not push our current obligations into a drawer and does not increase the sales tax,” said Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Louis Greenwald, D-Camden.
The Budget Committee also approved legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic, that would deem casino inspectors essential, allowing casinos to reopen without a budget agreement. The committee amended the bill to include all state workers as essential. The legislation must still be approved by the Senate before it can head to the governor's desk, where more than likely it will be rejected.
Though the evening committee hearing finally moved the budget process along, it did not necessarily bring the state any closer to a budget agreement. In a morning address to the state Legislature, Corzine dismissed the alternatives under consideration by Assembly Democrats as “an unknown list of several dozen proposals, many of which have never been vetted, several of which have never been tried, and most of which are highly speculative or known to be economically depressive.”
A red-faced Bob McDevitt, the president of Local 54 of UNITE-HERE representing casino workers, told the Assembly budget committee its delay in passing a budget had already cost his members more than a sales tax would.
“We already paid the (sales) tax,” McDevitt said. “Tomorrow, we're in the red. … This game of chicken that everybody's been playing, you lost. You both lost.”
With repercussions from the shutdown mounting, Corzine was considering spending his own money on a television ad to pressure Assembly Democrats to pass a budget. The former Wall Street CEO addressed the Legislature at the start of the day and in a press conference afterward questioned whether Assembly Democrats were moving with enough urgency.
“I don't think there was an all-night meeting of the budget committee,” Corzine said. “I don't think the people did the work necessary to put a bill on my desk. There is not a willingness to sit at the table and talk about this.”
The budget stalemate boils down to a test of political wills between Corzine and Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr., D-Camden (a look at Joe Roberts, Page A6).
Roberts insists his caucus will not support Corzine's plan to increase the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent. Corzine insists the revenue is the most painless way to tackle a chronic budget deficit.
A lynchpin of southern New Jersey's economy is now caught in the middle of the debate. The casinos have been shutdown because state inspectors are considered nonessential.
“We are curious to see where all the legislators are on any casino tax,” said Joe Tyrell, vice president of government relations for Harrah's. “You can't go back to us every year.”
Not that the casino industry is happy with the Corzine administration, either.
“The governor called us non-essential,” Tyrell said. “We're funding prescription drugs for seniors. We're being used as pawns in this whole process, and it's the workers who are suffering.
Whelan, facing pressure from casino worker unions to side with Corzine, released a written statement accusing the administration of using the casinos as a budget-negotiation tool.
“It is unconscionable that hard-working people are losing their paychecks so the Governor can raise the sales tax,” Whelan said. “State workers reportedly will be paid for time lost due to the shutdown, but who will look after the casino workers who now are out of work?”
State Sen. Bill Gormley, R-Atlantic, introduced a similar bill three years ago. He chided Democrats for not allowing the bill to move until now, but said Corzine Chief Counsel Stuart Rabner assured him the bill would receive consideration.
“I waited three years for them to take action,” Gormley said. “Then to cover themselves politically, after they failed, after 45,000 people are laid off, they try to do this. They don't care, and when it counts they don't deliver.”
Legislation to keep casinos open could not come soon enough for southern New Jersey. Union officials estimate the number of employees temporarily out of work could reach 30,000 as soon as today.
“I just feel helpless because the state is totally in control of the casinos,” Atlantic City Mayor Bob Levy said. “They need to do what they are elected to do.”
Aside from casinos, also closing Wednesday were state parks, historic sites, two state beaches and state-owned horse-racing tracks. Hundreds from a group of 45,000 furloughed state workers spent the day in the Statehouse, further crowding hallways jammed with lobbyists, legislators and the media.
Casino workers represented by Local 54 of UNITE-HERE will join the mix today with a rally in Trenton. Local 54 backs Corzine in the budget stalemate and has paid for radio ads criticizing three Assembly Democrats: Roberts, Whelan and Jeff Van Drew of Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic.
Corzine and Roberts — the two key players in the stalemate — met once in the afternoon and again in the evening but failed to reach an agreement. With no deal in sight, Corzine held a 30-minute afternoon meeting with his cabinet to prepare for the continuation of a shutdown.
State Department of Environmental Protection, or DEP, Commissioner Lisa Jackson said her department managed to get campers and other visitors out of state parks without any incidents. She said DEP is worried, however, about potential abuse of state environmental laws during the shutdown.
Assembly Democrats, meanwhile, worked on a new spending plan. Whelan said the caucus came up with 27 ideas totaling $3 billion and jettisoned a proposal to raise payroll taxes. The budget stalemate left him frustrated and embarrassed, he said, but he rejected charges that Assembly Democrats are to blame for not introducing a budget until July 5.
“The fact that there's not a physical document, I think we're splitting hairs,” Whelan said. “The hope was that out of the conversations, you could cobble together ideas and reach a compromise.”
Corzine is expected to address the Legislature this morning for a third straight day. He sounded increasingly frustrated Wednesday.
“It is deplorable that the people of this state are left in such a painful position,” Corzine said in his morning address. “The people of New Jersey have every right to be angry.”
What a way to govern a state>
TRENTON — As southern New Jersey dealt with the economic damage of a casino shutdown, Assembly Democrats sought Wednesday night to finally vote on a budget that is six days past deadline. The Assembly Budget Committee will vote this morning on a series of alternatives to offset Gov. Jon S. Corzine's $1.1 billion proposal to increase the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent. Among them are a $45 million extension of casino taxes set to expire this year and an expansion of the sales tax to include computer services, magazines and other items.
The Assembly budget also would eliminate the tax of hospital beds and the proposal for rural towns to pay $24 million for State Police patrols. It cuts $57 million from the budget, but reduces payments to the public employees pension fund by $200 million.
“This is a balanced budget that does not push our current obligations into a drawer and does not increase the sales tax,” said Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Louis Greenwald, D-Camden.
The Budget Committee also approved legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic, that would deem casino inspectors essential, allowing casinos to reopen without a budget agreement. The committee amended the bill to include all state workers as essential. The legislation must still be approved by the Senate before it can head to the governor's desk, where more than likely it will be rejected.
Though the evening committee hearing finally moved the budget process along, it did not necessarily bring the state any closer to a budget agreement. In a morning address to the state Legislature, Corzine dismissed the alternatives under consideration by Assembly Democrats as “an unknown list of several dozen proposals, many of which have never been vetted, several of which have never been tried, and most of which are highly speculative or known to be economically depressive.”
A red-faced Bob McDevitt, the president of Local 54 of UNITE-HERE representing casino workers, told the Assembly budget committee its delay in passing a budget had already cost his members more than a sales tax would.
“We already paid the (sales) tax,” McDevitt said. “Tomorrow, we're in the red. … This game of chicken that everybody's been playing, you lost. You both lost.”
With repercussions from the shutdown mounting, Corzine was considering spending his own money on a television ad to pressure Assembly Democrats to pass a budget. The former Wall Street CEO addressed the Legislature at the start of the day and in a press conference afterward questioned whether Assembly Democrats were moving with enough urgency.
“I don't think there was an all-night meeting of the budget committee,” Corzine said. “I don't think the people did the work necessary to put a bill on my desk. There is not a willingness to sit at the table and talk about this.”
The budget stalemate boils down to a test of political wills between Corzine and Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr., D-Camden (a look at Joe Roberts, Page A6).
Roberts insists his caucus will not support Corzine's plan to increase the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent. Corzine insists the revenue is the most painless way to tackle a chronic budget deficit.
A lynchpin of southern New Jersey's economy is now caught in the middle of the debate. The casinos have been shutdown because state inspectors are considered nonessential.
“We are curious to see where all the legislators are on any casino tax,” said Joe Tyrell, vice president of government relations for Harrah's. “You can't go back to us every year.”
Not that the casino industry is happy with the Corzine administration, either.
“The governor called us non-essential,” Tyrell said. “We're funding prescription drugs for seniors. We're being used as pawns in this whole process, and it's the workers who are suffering.
Whelan, facing pressure from casino worker unions to side with Corzine, released a written statement accusing the administration of using the casinos as a budget-negotiation tool.
“It is unconscionable that hard-working people are losing their paychecks so the Governor can raise the sales tax,” Whelan said. “State workers reportedly will be paid for time lost due to the shutdown, but who will look after the casino workers who now are out of work?”
State Sen. Bill Gormley, R-Atlantic, introduced a similar bill three years ago. He chided Democrats for not allowing the bill to move until now, but said Corzine Chief Counsel Stuart Rabner assured him the bill would receive consideration.
“I waited three years for them to take action,” Gormley said. “Then to cover themselves politically, after they failed, after 45,000 people are laid off, they try to do this. They don't care, and when it counts they don't deliver.”
Legislation to keep casinos open could not come soon enough for southern New Jersey. Union officials estimate the number of employees temporarily out of work could reach 30,000 as soon as today.
“I just feel helpless because the state is totally in control of the casinos,” Atlantic City Mayor Bob Levy said. “They need to do what they are elected to do.”
Aside from casinos, also closing Wednesday were state parks, historic sites, two state beaches and state-owned horse-racing tracks. Hundreds from a group of 45,000 furloughed state workers spent the day in the Statehouse, further crowding hallways jammed with lobbyists, legislators and the media.
Casino workers represented by Local 54 of UNITE-HERE will join the mix today with a rally in Trenton. Local 54 backs Corzine in the budget stalemate and has paid for radio ads criticizing three Assembly Democrats: Roberts, Whelan and Jeff Van Drew of Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic.
Corzine and Roberts — the two key players in the stalemate — met once in the afternoon and again in the evening but failed to reach an agreement. With no deal in sight, Corzine held a 30-minute afternoon meeting with his cabinet to prepare for the continuation of a shutdown.
State Department of Environmental Protection, or DEP, Commissioner Lisa Jackson said her department managed to get campers and other visitors out of state parks without any incidents. She said DEP is worried, however, about potential abuse of state environmental laws during the shutdown.
Assembly Democrats, meanwhile, worked on a new spending plan. Whelan said the caucus came up with 27 ideas totaling $3 billion and jettisoned a proposal to raise payroll taxes. The budget stalemate left him frustrated and embarrassed, he said, but he rejected charges that Assembly Democrats are to blame for not introducing a budget until July 5.
“The fact that there's not a physical document, I think we're splitting hairs,” Whelan said. “The hope was that out of the conversations, you could cobble together ideas and reach a compromise.”
Corzine is expected to address the Legislature this morning for a third straight day. He sounded increasingly frustrated Wednesday.
“It is deplorable that the people of this state are left in such a painful position,” Corzine said in his morning address. “The people of New Jersey have every right to be angry.”
posted by Dreyfuss at 7:29 AM
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