TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie has tweaked a bill that would require most newly hired public workers to live in-state, sending it back to the Legislature with a conditional veto. Christie indicated he supports the measure but took issue with two details: the small size of the committee that decides whether workers should be granted exemptions from the requirement;...
Gov. Chris Christie took issue with two details in a bill that would require most newly hired public workers to live in-state.TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie has tweaked a bill that would require most newly hired public workers to live in-state, sending it back to the Legislature with a conditional veto.
Christie indicated he supports the measure but took issue with two details: the small size of the committee that decides whether workers should be granted exemptions from the requirement; and that the bill would take effect immediately.
Christie proposed expanding the commission that decides whether workers should be granted “critical need or hardship” exemptions from three members to five. One member would be appointed by the Senate president, one member by the Assembly speaker, and three members by the governor.
All public workers except executive branch department heads and members of the Judiciary would be able to apply for the exemptions. If the committee does not rule on their requests within 30 days, it would be considered a denial.
“The small composition of this group makes it likely that applications for hardships will not be resolved in a timely fashion, resulting in automatic denials without a fair and equitable review of the facts,” wrote Christie in his conditional veto message.
Christie also suggested moving back the effective date of the bill to four months after enactment.
Under the bill, most newly hired workers would have one year from when they start their jobs to move into New Jersey. Employees whose positions require them to spend most of their time out of state and certain faculty and administrative staff of higher educational institutions would be exempt, although the institutions would have to make an annual report to the governor explaining and the Legislature on who is exempted and why it was necessary to allow them to live out of state.
Current workers who live out-of-state would not be affected by the bill.
Previous coverage:
• Bill compelling public employees to live in state clears Senate
• Legislation requiring future public employes to live in state clears Assembly
• N.J. Senate approves bill requiring public workers live in state
• N.J. lawmaker plans exemption to bill requiring state workers to live in state