On Tap For New Jersey Lawmakers: Payroll, Christie Book Deal
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A book deal for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, pay raises for legislative staffers, judges and Cabinet officers, and the ax for newspaper legal notices are all on the docket when the Democrat-led Legislature meets in its final session of the year Monday.
The legislation was introduced and both chambers are expected to vote on the bills in the Monday marathon before they go to Christie in just one week, a speedy journey in a statehouse where it's common for legislation to take months or years to advance.
The bills are among some 60 measures being considered in Monday's marathon session.
A closer look at the end-of-the-year legislation:
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WHY NOW?
The bills' detractors say the quick pace and timing of the votes just before the holidays is a sign that a deal had been cut between the Democrat-led Legislature and Republican governor.
"When you want to get something past the public before it can get some opposition, you do it quickly," said Democratic state Sen. Ray Lesniak.
The legislation advanced in committee without cost estimates, which are typically a factor in lawmakers' decisions, and, in the case of the bill that changes state ethics laws to permit Christie to write a book while boosting staff salaries, without any vocal support from the public during hearings. The Office of Legislative Services said Friday the book-and-salary bill could cost taxpayers at least $10.6 million in 2018 and beyond.
The bills' sponsors respond that these ideas have been discussed publicly for years and that their staff, the state's judges and Cabinet officials have gone as long as 14 years without pay raises.
The legislation has generated opposition, particularly among callers on a statewide conservative talk-radio program, lawmakers from swing districts who voted against the measures in committee, and candidates for governor in 2017. Assemblymen John Wisniewski, a Democrat, and Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican, both are running to succeed Christie and criticized the deal.
Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said the legislation is likely to drive the already record-low approval for the governor even lower and to damage the public's trust in state government.
"At a time when the New Jersey public feels that the legislators are not looking out for them and Gov. Christie has spent the past two years neglecting the state to support his own political future, this is just a slap in the face for New Jersey residents," he said.
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WHAT'S IN THE LEGISLATION?
The book-and-salary bill changes a law that prohibits the governor from drawing any income beyond his $175,000 per year salary. The legislation also includes an increase of $30,000 to $140,000 in appropriations for each of the state's 120 lawmakers to spend on staff.
Judges would get 3 percent raises in 2017 and 2018. Their salaries would be tied to the Consumer Price Index in 2019 and beyond, meaning future raises would be automatic. The state's county prosecutors, whom Christie appoints, also would get pay increases, from $165,000, to as much as $175,000 by 2018.
The newspaper legislation would end a requirement that public legal notices be published in newspapers, instead allowing local governments to post them online. The move is likely to be a death blow to weekly newspapers, according to New Jersey Hills Media Group co-publisher Stephen Parker. Star-Ledger publisher Richard Vezza estimates the change could cost up to 300 newspaper jobs in the state.
Christie took to Twitter on Friday night to criticize some Democratic lawmakers who oppose the bill, including an assemblyman who has dubbed it Christie's "revenge" bill because the governor has a strained relationship with the press. The governor noted that Assemblyman John Wisniewski supported a 2004 bill to post legal notices online and Christie accused the Middlesex County Democrat of "hypocrisy."
Christie's tweet storm began after Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg and Sen. Robert Gordon, both Democrats who represent Bergen County, announced their opposition to the legal ad legislation. They also oppose the book deal bill.
Weinberg tweeted: "No municipality or county has asked for this bill. Whats up your sleeve @GovChristie?"
A fiscal analysis published Friday afternoon by the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services said the newspaper legislation might not produce any savings, The Record reported. Christie has claimed it would save taxpayers $80 million annually, but opponents of the bill have testified that placing the notices online could cost local governments more money.
The two bills were the subject of an editorial that ran Saturday on the front pages of New Jersey newspapers owned by Gannett, with the exception of The Record. The editorials urged voters to "Drain the Swamp in Trenton."
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WHAT ELSE IS GETTING A VOTE?
Also up for a vote Monday are measures that would regulate so-called transportation network companies like Lyft and Uber. The legislation already passed the Assembly and heads to Christie if the Senate approves it.
It calls for a number of things of the companies, including a $25,000 fee to the state; a permit; insurance requirements; and criminal background checks. Legislators will also vote on a possible constitutional amendment to ask voters whether settlements with firms over environmental contamination should go only for environmental purposes, and not into the general fund.
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