Legislators say package of reforms will rein in costs
Alex Lima, president of the Local 305, (with the bull horn) rallies with other firefighters at the steps of the Irvington Municipal Building in regards to layoffs in May. TRENTON — The leaders of the state Legislature moved ahead today on a package of reforms for the public-worker arbitration process, saying it will rein in costs even though it is not quite what Gov. Chris Christie has called for.
They also declared war on home rule, announcing they will push an aggressive agenda of service and government consolidation among towns in order to bring the state’s costly maze of government entities under control.
"Right now, arbitration ignores the fiscal and social realities of our taxpayers," said Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Louis Greenwald (D-Camden).
The proposal would require arbitrators to take into account a number of new factors, including the impact of salary increases on taxpayers and the overall economy in the region. They would have to report formally how they made their decisions and break them down based on every factor they take into account.
During a Statehouse news conference, Greenwald joined with Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) to lay out their version of a program that would fix the system through which salary and contract disputes with public workers are settled. The trio said it has gotten too unwieldy over the years they agree with the governor that it needs to be changed.
The trio, however, said they and their allies disagree with Christie on the best way to reform the system. They said their proposal would allow for more "creativity" and "flexibility" than the governor’s, which would require arbitrators to keep annual salary increases below a hard cap, without exception.
The bill (A-3393) cleared the Budget Committee today on a party line vote of 7-4. It is scheduled to head to the floor of the Assembly for a full vote Monday. The Senate plans to take it up next month.
Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said the governor is insisting on a hard pay cap because it "is the only real way to control costs for municipalities and provide real property tax relief for New Jersey taxpayers. The (Democrat-proposed) bill ... falls far short of those goals."
Before the lawmakers held their news conference, Christie again mocked the recent efforts of the Legislature and called on the Assembly and Senate to get to work on his package of measures to reform and cut the costs of government.
Sweeney, Oliver and Greenwald also stressed that, contrary to the governor’s public comments, arbitration is not one of the top factors in the state’s highest-in-the-nation property taxes. That culprit, they said, is largely the big number of redundant governments and public workers. So, they said, they are declaring war on home rule and will push an aggressive agenda of town consolidation and shared services among municipalities.
"We have too much government," Sweeney said. "Home rule this holy grail of New Jersey and it’s a farce. It’s what keeping us from having affordable government."
Though Christie has said he supports home rule, he has endorsed greater service sharing as a means of controlling costs.
Notes:
To analyze police salaries in New Jersey, The Star-Ledger used 2009 data from the New Jersey Division of Pensions and Benefits. The data includes all police officers paying into the Police and Firemen's Retirement System by the end of March 2010. It does not include a small minority of officers who are part of the Public Employees' Retirement System, a separate pension fund.
Not every town has officers on its payroll. For example, the State Police provides partial or complete police services in 88 towns.
For the analysis, the newspaper calculated median figures. The median is the point at which half the numbers are above a certain figure and half are below.
* Median salaries are based on analysis of 2009 data.
** Crime rates are based on the 2008 Uniform Crime Report and refer to number of offenses per 1,000 residents.
*** These towns are identified in the Uniform Crime Report as resort municipalities with large numbers of seasonal residents, which skews crime rates higher.