TRENTON -- Lawmakers today continued struggling to keep a deal together on the $29.4 billion state budget, with pressure from Gov. Chris Christie on all Republicans to vote for his first budget. Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R-Union) is scheduled to sit in for another Republican on that house's budget committee today to make sure a series of...
View full sizeMinority leader Senator Tom Kean Jr. (R-21) speaks with
Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) in this 2009 file photo.TRENTON -- Lawmakers today continued struggling to keep a deal together on the $29.4 billion state budget, with pressure from Gov. Chris Christie on all Republicans to vote for his first budget.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R-Union) is scheduled to sit in for another Republican on that house's budget committee today to make sure a series of budget bills are passed on to a vote in the full Senate.
Kean is taking the place of Sen. Michael Doherty (R-Warren), who said he would not vote for four of the slate of bills necessary to implement the 2011 budget, which takes effect July 1. The 13-member panel has eight Democrats and five Republicans, meaning two Democrats and all the Republicans need to vote for a bill for it to pass on to full Senate.
Christie has said he expects all Republicans to vote yes on Monday. Kean said his appearance on the committee was temporary — just for today.
"We will have 17 Republican votes on Monday for this budget and all associated bills," Kean said.
Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said he had not yet authorized the Republican switch, but may later. He said Republicans had promised all along to provide all 17 votes in the Senate, so they should be ready to show Doherty's support today.
He said Democrats are not willing to budge off their pledge to provide the minimum number of votes for passage, and Republicans need to resolve their own issues.
Sen. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Union) said he would sit on the senate budget commitee today for Sen. Michael Doherty, though Kean -- the minority leader -- pledged to have all 17 senate Republicans vote yes on all budget bills on Monday."This isn't my problem, this is their problem," Sweeney said. "If he (Doherty) is not going to vote for the bills here, how's he going to vote for them on the floor? So we might as well deal with it in this committee, where these issues need to be dealt with."
Signs of trouble emerged during the committee's hearing on Wednesday, when Doherty said he would not vote for four of the bills necessary for implementation of Gov. Chris Christie's first budget.
"I'm not a fan of higher taxes," he said in a brief interview.
When asked if he thought the budget contained tax increases, he said:
"I'm supporting the budget," he said. "Look, we're in a very tough situation."
Doherty said the best thing he could do for his constituents was to try to make the way the state funds school districts more fair.
"Some towns are getting up here, and others..." he said. "That's unfair."
The Assembly is dealing with its own defections. Two Republican members said they wanted changes in school funding before voting for the budget. The Assembly budget committee is meeting today to discuss the budget and the related bills.
By Claire Heininger and Lisa Fleisher
Previous coverage:
• N.J. legislators scramble to ensure budget deal support
• How much N.J. will save after Gov. Chris Christie's budget cuts