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The full Senate is expected to vote on the bill Monday, and the Assembly’s own Budget Committee will consider it next Thursday — in what could essentially come down to a last stand.
Those arrested and given disorderly persons summonses by State Police included Charles Wowkanech, the state director of the AFL-CIO. Several others were escorted out of the Statehouse in Trenton.
The hearing ended with Bob Master, political director for the Communications Workers of America blasting the bill.
Meanwhile, more than 3,000 public workers who remained outside throughout the hearing vowed: “We’ll remember in November.”
A new name was born as well: “Christie Democrats.”
“This is the fight of your life,” state Assemblyman Thomas Giblin told a crowd that reached nearly 8,000 earlier in the day.
“If someone punches you,” the Clifton lawmaker said, in an impassioned speech that showed his North Jersey roots, “punch back.”
“There’s a lot of sheep inside, and the lions are out here fighting,” Assemblyman Reed Gusciora said, as the committe hearing went on.
Fair Lawn PBA Local 67 representative Mike O’Brien told CLIFFVIEW PILOT that the objective of the rally is “to oppose bills created by agenda-oriented politicians with one goal: to dictate and take away our right to negotiate fair and equitable contracts.”
By dismantling collective bargaining and requiring police, firefighters, teachers and other public servants to shoulder more of their pension and health care costs, Gov. Christie and his supporters will “reduce public safety, in part due to unreasonable caps,” O’Brien said.
“It’s an attack on the middle class,” a Pascack Valley officer attending the rally told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. Another said Christie is going for “the very backbone of communities — public safety and education.”
Keith Dunn, vice-president of the state PBA, told the throng gathered in front of the capital building that New Jersey officials “took millions” from the state pension fund to help balance budgets “and now want us to make up the difference” for their mismanagement.
NJEA President Barbara Keshishian said she’s “mad as hell about politicians who were elected by the people but sell their votes to the powerful.” adding that she’s tired of public workers being made scapegoats. “We’ll remember in November” some chanted.
The AFL-CIO and NJEA timed the rally on the Statehouse steps to coincide with the budget committee hearing on the proposal, which moved a giant step closer today to becoming reality.
Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo said he supports collective bargaining and is “110 percent” behind negotiating, not legislating, health benefits. So do Assembly members Daniel Benson, Patrick Diegnan, Vincent Prieto and state Sen. Ray Lesniak — who said he’s going to sponsor a bill reinstituting New Jersey’s “millionaries’ tax.”
THANK YOU! To all our contributors: Couldn’t have done it without you…. We had boots on the ground from early this morning and all the way through. If you feel this story is missing something, or you have a photo you think deserves publishing, please call or text CLIFFVIEW PILOT at 201.943.2794. OR: cliffviewpilot@gmail.com
The one group not heard from — and, in the end, the most important — are the taxpayers. Apart from message board posts, no major voices have arisen in favor of either side. A compromise is the likely result, although chances are it won’t satisfy the public servants, the politicians jockeying for position going into November. But it’s certain to make Christie happy.
As for the taxpayers: Many who have analyzed the 120-page document can’t see solid evidence of any reduction in New Jersey property taxes.
“This plan put forward is not about saving money, as indicated by the treasury’s testimony today of a saving of only $10 million the first year, but about destroying public workers rights to collectively bargain for fair wages, healthcare benefits and pensions,” Assemblywoman Connie Wagner told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.If approved, Christie’s plan would require public employees to pay 12 percent of their health insurance costs and 5.8 percent of their pension costs – which, on average, comes out to an 8-percent pay cut. It also would leave them with the ability to negotiate only base pay hikes no bigger than the inflation rate.
In the proverbial nutshell: The average New Jersey public worker earning $60,000, who now contributes $900 toward health care (1.5% of salary) could pay $2,056 (3.4%) a year for single coverage and $3,230 (5.4%) for a family plan.
Critics say the tiered system is inherently unfair because it doesn’t account for increases in costs. However, Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney said New Jersey taxpayers shouldn’t have to continue paying for rising health care costs for public workers.
Several police, firefighters and teachers say the battle should be with the providers and not them. Insisting that coverage be put out to bid — which would drive down costs because of competition — would be a good start, they say.
Can’t have a rally without The Rat: The 10-ft inflatable rodent’s sign says “PENSION BETRAYAL”
Roughly 500,000 New Jersey public workers would be affected by the change, which aims to make up for pension and health-care programs that are underfunded by a combined $110 billion – thanks to state officials who applied the money toward the general fund over the years to try and curb property tax increases. That bill has now come due.
Supporters of pension and health-care reform in New Jersey say that taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to shoulder that burden. Others, meanwhile, say fairness is possible for all.
“The unions put forward a plan that would have saved much more money in its first year and was put forward at the collective bargaining table where it should take place,” Wagner said. “Another proposal by the PBA would put money directly back into municipalities for property tax relief.
“Why are we moving forward with this plan and not looking at everything we have on the table? I don’t believe this is the best way to proceed for our workers or our taxpayers. This bill actually seems to save us less money than the other proposals.”
State Sen. Joseph Pennachio, a member of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, called the panel’s decision today a “prudent compromise.”
In the long run, he said, “the pension and health benefits reform agreement reached today will save the taxpayers of New Jersey more than $100 billion. This tax relief will help middle-class families preserve the high quality of life in New Jersey.
“It is clear to everyone that the current pension and health benefits package is unsustainable. Public employees were made promises that were unsustainable, that the state could never keep,” Pennacchio said. “If we do nothing, the pension systems will default within the next few years. This will leave hard-working, rank-and-file retirees without any pension or health benefits at all.”
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