TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie conditionally vetoed three pieces of legislation today, returning to them to the Legislature with changes. The most controversial was a bill that would require school districts to use money saved from renegotiating teachers contracts to avoid laying off educators. Christie said the legislation, as written, was "overly-broad" and might deter districts from trying to...
N.J. Gov. Chris Christie in this Feb. 15 file photo.TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie conditionally vetoed three pieces of legislation today, returning to them to the Legislature with changes.
The most controversial was a bill that would require school districts to use money saved from renegotiating teachers contracts to avoid laying off educators. Christie said the legislation, as written, was "overly-broad" and might deter districts from trying to save money by renegotiating contracts before they expire.
Last year after cutting millions in school funding, Christie asked teachers across the state to voluntarily take a pay freeze and increase their payments for health benefits. Most districts refused, saying even if all members agreed to the sacrifice, it wouldn't have saved jobs that were lost through layoffs.
"Unlike the situation facing the State which prompted this legislation, this bill is not limited to a one-year concession in the middle of a collective bargaining agreement for the sole purpose of preventing layoffs due to a fiscal crisis,” Christie said in a news release. “Rather than encouraging shared sacrifice and cooperation, this lack of clarity will likely breed disputes and legal challenges, ultimately discouraging the shared sacrifice needed to address our fiscal challenges.
Christie returned the legislation to the Legislature with changes, including giving the school board the ultimate deciding factor in staff sizes and allowing such provisions only be used during times of economic crisis. His changes also limit the agreement to use savings to maintain staffing to one year.
Sponsor Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Atlantic) said he has no initial oppositions to the changes made by Christie, but that he's still reviewing the conditional veto.
"In general scope, I understand that there may have been some haziness to the bill," Van Drew said.
Van Drew said he'll agree to the changes if the conditional veto keeps "the main intent of the bill and the spirit of the bill in place."
Christie returned two additional bills to the Legislature with changes.
One would have made using a "bump key" to commit a burglary a second-degree offense. Writing that bump keys are already prohibited under state law, Christie rewrote the bill to make all home burglaries a second-degree offense and requiring that anyone convicted serve 85 percent of their sentence.
He also returned a bill that would have made investigators in the Department of Corrections classified as police officers. Arguing that the bill greatly enhanced the power of investigators, Christie rewrote the legislation to create a study to review the issue and report back.
Christie argued in his letter returning the bill that the current structure of law enforcement and police officers has become too complicated and should be reviewed comprehensively before any changes are made.
The Legislature cannot vote to accept Christie's changes and make the rewritten bills law, or decline the changes.