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As reported by nj.com, Governor Chris Christie is seeking to halt the early release of state prison inmates with the conditional veto of a separate bill today. The early release program has drawn a firestorm of controversy after two inmates who were allowed out of prison months early were accused of murder.

“Whatever original policy or principle motivated passage of this law, it failed to adequately consider the safety of the public,” Christie said in a statement. “In recent months we have seen the horrific consequences of the early release law, which is why we must not wait any longer to take action and change it.”

The program, which started in January, was sponsored by Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman and signed into law by then-Governor Jon Corzine on his last day in office. Watson Coleman has it is wrong to blame the program for the actions of individual inmates.

A conditional veto is a powerful tool that allows the governor to modify legislation instead of rejecting it outright. Afterward, the bill returns to the Senate, which can accept the changes or seeks to overturn the governor’s recommendations with a two-thirds vote.

Christie conditionally vetoed a bill that would make some inmates wait 10 years, rather than three, for their mandatory parole review. He said that does not go far enough, saying the Parole Board should have more discretion to decide whether to grant a review. Christie went a step further in his conditional veto by seeking the repeal of the early release program, which became law more than a year ago.  

Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver said the early release program needs to be changed. “The legislative intent was a worthy one, but I do believe it warrants reexamination,” she said. “No one wants to see violent offenders, or those that have been convicted of egregious offenses, released early from those sentences.” 

Republican lawmakers, who had launched their own push to stop early releases through new legislation, hailed the governor’s conditional veto. “The governor’s action provides an additional path to repeal New Jersey’s early release law, and I am pleased that he has put his full support behind this effort,” Senator Diane Allen said in a statement. “With two homicides already committed by inmates released under the program, repealing this misguided policy should priority number one for the Legislature.”

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As reported by nj.com, Senate President Stephen Sweeney’s plan to require public workers to kick in more for medical benefits is getting little support from his fellow Democrats. As Sweeney scrambles for votes, Senate Republicans say they favor Governor Chris Christie’s proposal, which a new non-partisan report predicts would save about 16 times more money than Sweeney’s plan next year for state workers alone. Democrats, however, have even less enthusiasm for Christie’s plan.

In a March 16 letter, a senior analyst with the Office of Legislative Services said Sweeney’s bill would save the State about $22 million next year, while Christie’s plan would save about $347 million. Sweeney’s plan would save $206.2 million by the seventh year. The review only covered state workers.

Democrats who oppose the bill argue that how much public workers pay for health benefits should be decided at the bargaining table and not dictated by lawmakers. “This stuff needs to be negotiated,” said State Senator Ron Rice. State Senator John Girgenti said, “Clearly, something needs to be done to curb the rising costs of health benefits, and most public employees believe this as well. But it should happen through collective bargaining, not legislation.”

Some opponents cited a recent offer by the Communications Workers of America, the largest state employee union, to increase contributions after Christie said he will not negotiate medical benefits. The CWA said its plan would save $200 million by 2013.

If the CWA makes a deal with Christie, Sweeney said there “would be no need” for legislation: “I think they knew I’m serious about doing legislation. Now if they can accomplish it through collective bargaining, I think the governor should attempt it.”

Bill supporters say it’s a reasonable alternative to Christie’s plan, which calls for all public workers, regardless of income, to pay 30 percent of their medical premiums. Sweeney wants to phase in the increases over seven years and set a sliding scale of 12 to 30 percent of premiums, based on salary. Currently, public workers pay at least 1.5 percent of their pay for health benefits.

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As reported by nj.com, the Somerset County freeholders do not plan to increase taxes next year, but may downsize the sheriff’s office if union concessions are not made. The freeholders presented a proposed budget last week, a spending plan that is less than one percent smaller than last year’s $211 million budget. “It’s not a huge cut, but it’s a cut,” said Freeholder Director Robert Zaborowski.

A key issue that could affect the budget is the contract situation with the two unions representing employees in the sheriff’s office, which are now in arbitration.  Zaborowski said layoffs do not appear to be on the horizon, but he warned they could be possible. “Hopefully, we can avoid that,” he said.

Last year, the county budget called for the layoff of 10 sheriff’s officers after the unions rejected a pay freeze. The 45 sheriff’s officers are represented by the Fraternal Order of Police and the 107 corrections officers are represented by the Policemen’s Benevolent Association, Local 177. The county and unions have been negotiating since the contracts expired, in 2007 for the sheriff’s officers and last year for corrections.

So far, 16 of the 19 unions representing county employees have agreed to waive salary increases in 2010 or 2011, according to county officials. Zaborowski said staff attrition over the past few years, the county has tried to avoid hiring new employees since 2008, has been a major contributor to next year’s slightly leaner budget. In the proposed budget, the county eliminated another 27 positions, meaning 149 positions have been dropped since 2008. Budgeting for the department is almost flat: In the current year, $6,011,500 was appropriated for the sheriff’s department, and $6,017,400 is budgeted for next year.

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As reported by app.com, New Jersey officials continued to move the State’s $71.6 billion pension fund into more aggressive, and riskier, investments, as returns have missed their targets for a decade. The decisions included putting $100 million into a private equity fund run by a big fundraiser for President Barack Obama.

State Investment Council Chairman Robert Grady contends the changes will not only provide better returns, but also make the overall pension portfolio safer by making it less subject to increasing interest rates or stock market swings. Union representatives on the council are opposed and prefer the State stick with a traditional mix of stock and bonds. The council voted 8-3 to take another step toward allowing the State’s money managers to invest more than a third, up to 38%, of the pension funds in so-called alternative investments: private equity, hedge funds, real estate, and commodities. The policy is expected to be approved in May.

Some unions, particularly Communications Workers of America Local 1033 representing rank and file state workers, have fought the effort to change the State’s investment strategy and said the State is taking undue risk with the money. The State faces a collective $53.8 billion unfunded liability in the pension fund over the next 30 years. Governor Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney are both proposing sweeping changes to the pension system in an effort to reduce payouts.

The pension funds had gained an average of some 3 percent a year for the past 10 years as stocks swooned in 2001 and the recent financial crisis torpedoed investments broadly. The state pension system is constructed with the expectation that investments would earn 8.25 percent a year. Timothy Walsh, director of the Division of Investment, noted that the state’s pension funds were up just over 15 percent through the first eight months of the fiscal year that began in July, led by outsized gains in the U.S. stock market. Investment officials said the State had made $435 million from private equity firms in the past three months, and they expected greater gains in the months ahead.

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As reported by nj.com, Governor Chris Christie and State Senate President Stephen Sweeney will speak with elected officials from Camden County about the benefits of consolidating local police and fire departments. The meeting will take place March 23, 2011 at Camden County College and is closed to the public and media. Christie is scheduled to meet with reporters afterward. 

No New Jersey county has gone as far as mass consolidations of its public safety forces, though smaller combinations are becoming more appealing in some places amid a government budget crunch. The discussion is timely in Camden County because the City of Camden recently laid off nearly half its police officers and the county prosecutor’s office is facing deep layoffs in coming weeks.

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As reported by nj.com, a security decision by State Police to turn union members away from the Statehouse hours before the Senate went into session was criticized as unfair by a key lawmaker and public employee unions. About 50 public employee union members trying to participate in a lobbying day never got inside the Statehouse on March 21, 2011, which was the third day of collective bargaining meetings between Communication Workers of America, the state’s largest union, leaders and Governor Chris Christie’s office.

It is not unusual for groups to flood the Statehouse halls and meet with their individual representatives and talk to others in the hallways. It was the first time CWA political director Bob Master encountered a problem with members passing security. “This came as a complete surprise, and they dug out this policy from 1997, which no one had ever seen before,” Master said. “It seems like a systematic effort to prevent people from engaging in the democratic process.” 

People were delayed entering the building because they were headed to packed areas, said State Police spokesman Sgt. Stephen Jones. “We are in charge of the security of that building, and we’re only going to do things in the interest of that security,” Jones said. “There was no attempt to stifle any opinion or keep any group out. We’re only concerned with the security and safety of those in that building.” When someone enters the Statehouse, State Police require a destination be designated. When a large number of CWA members all gave the same destination, police stopped the group when the room’s maximum occupancy was reached, Jones said.    

Senator Loretta Weinberg questioned whether the size of the group, estimated by union officials at about 150, came close to creating any safety concerns, adding that the Statehouse has been filled with many more people on other days. Weinberg said she suspects someone told State Police to turn the union members away, but she does not know who was behind the restrictions. She added that she hopes legislation or a resolution is not needed to prevent a similar event from happening again. “I feel very passionately about this, the Statehouse is owned by the people,” Weinberg said. “I would never recommend to anyone that you try to control public opinion by controlling the public.”

Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said his office was not aware of the issue and no directive had come from the administration to turn people away. “I don’t think anybody should be turned away from the Statehouse, but we leave security decisions up to the State Police,” Drewniak said.

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As reported by nj.com, the State of New Jersey is opening its books to the IRS regarding its troubled public employee pension funds to find out if it is in compliance with the federal tax code. In January, the State Treasury Department asked the IRS to review the tangle of rules and regulations that guide the pension plans, currently valued at $70 billion, for hundreds of thousands of state employees and issue what is called a determination letter, essentially signing off on how the plans are being administered.

Former state pension director Fred Beaver said he began seeking IRS approval before stepping down last year because he was concerned about the impact of changes to laws regulating the funds through the years. “I was concerned about an audit, and I wanted to make sure there were no surprises,” Beaver said. 

The federal review comes as the state’s pension plans face uncertainty and increased scrutiny. With a shortfall of $54 billion, they are among the most underfinanced in the nation and at the center of a tug of war between Governor Chris Christie and Democratic lawmakers over how to stabilize the system. Last month, Standard and Poor’s lowered the state’s bond rating to among the lowest in the country, citing the poor financing levels of pension funds.  

After the review, which could take years, the IRS might sign off on the pensions or suggest changes that, if ignored, could result in the agency stripping the plans of their tax exempt status. In short, the agency will examine how the state’s seven pension plans for public employees are being overseen, including how benefits are accrued and who is eligible for them. However, it will not look into how the plans became underfunded by $54 billion.

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As reported by nj.com, the state’s largest public employee union unveiled its plan for workers to contribute more for their medical coverage in hopes of convincing lawmakers and the public that real savings can be achieved at the bargaining table. 

The Communications Workers of America, which represents about 40,000 state workers, detailed a plan union leaders say would increase employees’ share of insurance premiums to about 14 percent and save taxpayers more than $200 million by 2013. The plan calls for increased monthly contributions and higher co-pays for doctor’s visits and prescription drugs.

Union leaders say they were forced to take the negotiations public after Governor Chris Christie made it clear a week ago that he was not interested in negotiating medical benefits. Those details should be handled through legislation, he said. “Governor Christie professes to love collective bargaining, but we have yet to see it,” said Bob Master, CWA political director. “What’s going on in New Jersey is no different than what’s going on in Wisconsin and Ohio.”

Momentum is building to require all public workers to contribute significantly more for medical benefits. Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney say broad-based legislation is the only way to bring parity between public and private workers and save the state millions. “We’re changing New Jersey, and the CWA has to be part of it,” Christie said at an appearance in Newark. “I know they don’t like the fact that someone will go to the Legislature and fight for the taxpayers rather than fleece the taxpayers, which they’ve been doing over history. Sorry, there’s a new game in town and they’re going to have to get used to it.”

Hetty Rosenstein, state director of CWA, said state workers understand they need to contribute more, but believe the terms should be negotiated, as they have been for decades. While the CWA is the largest state employee union, it represents only a fraction of the 510,000 public workers in the state, and Christie wants the health benefits law to cover all public workers. Christie is hoping to save more than $300 million in the proposed budget with the reform package. Rosenstein said she is trying to reach out to other public employee unions in hopes of having a “mass negotiation” that would help achieve the savings Christie is seeking while preserving the right to collectively bargain medical benefits.  

Under the CWA plan, workers would continue to pay 1.5 percent of their salaries toward medical costs but would also kick in an additional 5 percent of their premiums by 2013. The hybrid model is designed to take into account a worker’s salary. By the end of the contract, average workers would pay about 13.5 percent of their medical premium costs, about $210 a month for family coverage. Rosenstein said with co-pays and other changes, workers would pay about 22 percent of their premiums. Christie wants all public employees to pay 30 percent of their premiums, about $475 a month for family coverage. Sweeney wants workers to pay 12 to 30 percent of premiums, based on salary.

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As reported by nj.com, Camden Mayor Dana Reed says her crime-ridden city will rehire 50 police officers and 15 firefighters two months after deep layoffs to public safety departments. Reed announced that she will use $2.5 million paid to the City by the South Jersey Port Corp, plus federal grants, to bring back the officers through the summer.

The quasi-state agency announced it would make the payment late last year after skipping a larger payment it owed the cash-strapped city government. Reed said she would use it to stave off layoffs. However, she said she would not do so unless unions for public workers made concessions first. She reversed course, rehiring workers without concessions. Crime has been up since January, when nearly half the police force was laid off.

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As reported by nj.com, Governor Chris Christie called for the elimination of an early release program for prison inmates, less than two weeks after an inmate released early allegedly killed a man in Jersey City. Authorities said the former inmate, Rondell Jones, shot and killed a Newark man during a dispute six weeks after release from state prison.

Because his administration cannot unilaterally halt the early releases, the Governor said he will push legislation to cancel it. He harshly criticized Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, who sponsored what Christie called a “rotten idea” to release inmates early. “It’s tragic that because of Assemblywoman Watson Coleman’s philosophy on crime, that we now have one person who has lost his life,” he said. “Given the statistics on how many people are going to be released, we can only hope that there won’t be anybody else who loses their lives.”

Christie said 222 people have been released so far. The early release program, which allows certain inmates to be released on parole six months before their sentence ends, is part of a bill signed by former Governor Jon Corzine mandating more job training and educational programs in prison.

Coleman said the actions of one individual do not mean early releases should be scuttled. “This is a tragedy that anybody killed anybody,” she said. “But does that one act negate the validity of a whole system of reform?” Coleman said Christie was simply trying to smear her with his criticism. “I don’t hold the governor personally responsible for people who have died at the hands of violence because we don’t have enough police in our communities,” she said. “The governor is simply trying to deflect and blame. He does that better than fix things.”

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As reported by nj.com, representatives for Governor Chris Christie have told the state’s largest union that the administration’s plan to sharply increase health care costs for public employees was not negotiable, union leaders said. 

The Governor’s issue first took the issue of health care costs off the table when negotiations over a new contract got underway. However, union officials said they were determined to have a voice in changes to their benefits. “It represents a pretty fundamental attack on a long-established right to bargain over health care which goes back as long as there has been unions in New Jersey,” said Bob Masters, political director for the Communications Workers of America, which represents that state’s public employees. “We are going to insist that our legal right to bargain over health care can be honored by this governor as it has been by every governor.”

Instead, a spokesman for Christie said the governor planned to stick to his plan to have state employees to pay 30 percent of their health care premiums by requiring it through having the legislature enact a law. Union members currently pay 1.5 percent of their salary for health care coverage. “We and the Senate president are pursuing that area in the same way through legislation,” the spokesman, Michael Drewniak, said.

Christie contends that he does not have to negotiate over increasing health care costs because in the past, the unions, at least in some instances, appealed directly to the Legislature. The last time employees saw an increase in their contributions was in 2007, when Governor Jon Corzine reached an agreement with the union requiring members to pay 1.5 percent of their salary for benefits.

Masters said the governor’s office could not provide an example of the union skipping collective bargaining. A spokesman for the Assembly Majority, Tom Hester said it was the responsibility of Christie’s office to engage in collective bargaining with the union. “This governor spends a lot of time bragging about his ability to shake up government,” Hester said, “so it’s time to him to back his talk and prove his worth at the bargaining table, where health insurance matters have traditionally been decided.”

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As reported by app.com, the union that represents some 35,000 state and local government workers is offering to make changes in New Jersey’s health insurance system that would, as one official promised, save “tens of millions of dollars.” The proposal by the Communication Workers of America came as union leaders and negotiators for Governor Chris Christie’s administration met for the first time.

Paul Alexander, president of the CWA Local 1038, said the package was drawn from reforms being instituted across the United States and from recommendations contained in a report from Harvard University. “It’s a very, very comprehensive plan,” Alexander said. “These are things being done in other areas, but for New Jersey, it may be unique. (Rising health costs) are not just a New Jersey problem, it’s a national problem.”

Alexander and CWA officials declined to detail the proposal. However, a letter sent to members and posted on a CWA website said the offer was an effort at “containing and sharing premium costs.”  The proposal also would expand the use of generic drugs and mail-order prescription services, the union letter said. The proposal would save the State about one-fifth of its premium costs the CWA claimed.

A Christie spokesman declined to comment. Christie, a Republican who frequently criticizes public sector unions, has said in recent weeks that he is looking forward to negotiating over contracts that are set to begin July 1. “It should be an adversarial situation,” Christie said on a televised interview last month. “Somebody should be representing the taxpayers.”

However, with the State facing rising health costs for current workers, a nearly $37 billion long term unfunded liability in the State portion of the pension system and another $56 billion for retiree health costs, Christie is pushing for system-wide changes through legislation. To this end, Christie has called for all state and local workers enrolled in the State’s health benefits plan to pay 30 percent of the premium.

A counter proposal by Democratic State Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney also would require premium payments by employees up to 30 percent, but that would only be for employees making more than $100,000 a year and seven years after their current contract ends.   An employee paid $60,000, close to the state average, would pay 7 percent of the premium at first, rising to 19 percent seven years later. That final figure would work out to $3,610 a year for family coverage in 2017.

Unions, however, want those health coverage changes to be adopted only through negotiation and not through state law, as proposed by Christie and Sweeney. Several hundred retired and current government workers jammed the hallways of the Statehouse as unions tried to meet with lawmakers and urge them not to pass the health care changes. Unions are arguing that the health care proposals amount to an attack on collective bargaining.

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As reported by nj.com, thirty-one (31)Irvington Township police officers, nearly twenty (20) percent of the force, are scheduled to be laid off on March 11, 2011 in the township’s latest cost cutting move. The cuts would leave the department with 132 officers, a level of uniformed police last seen in 1965, according to Detective Jerry Ramos, president of the Irvington Policemen’s Benevolent Association.

Mayor Wayne Smith said the officers would likely be rehired within a few weeks if state officials allow Irvington to make installment payments on a $6 million budget obligation rather than demand a lump sum.

Union rank-and-file declined this week to vote on giveback proposals, calling them draconian. Ramos said the proposals included an across-the-board 10 percent pay cut through June 30, additional health benefit contributions, and writing off back pay owed to dozens of officers. Irvington police pay ranked 245^th out of 466 towns, according to 2009 state data. “However, we’re one of the most densely populated municipalities in the entire state and we have the second-highest violent crime rate” after Camden, Ramos said.

The move comes 10 months after a 17 percent municipal tax increase and the layoffs of 20 officers and 10 firefighters. Five firefighters and 19 officers were rehired in July.

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At the suggestion of one of our readers, we have created a Facebook page for the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog.  We believe this page will allow our readers to post comments and questions and find information pertinent to the legal rights affecting Law Enforcement Officers through out The State of New Jersey more efficiently.  When you have a free moment and are logged on to your Facebook account, check out the page.  You can find the page on Facebook by typing in "New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog" in the search box located at the top of your Facebook page.  When you see the blog's logo, click on it and you will be directed to the page.  When you click that you "Like" the page, you will permitted access to post comments, links and suggest the page to other Law Enforcement friends in the Facebook community.

Enjoy--Frank M. Crivelli, Esq.

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As reported by trentonian.com, Governor Chris Christie quietly receives an expense account of $95,000 a year and does not have to tell anyone how it is spent. This annual “allowance” is being renewed for fiscal year 2012, continuing a 35 year old custom to make sure the Governor has enough dough to pay for official receptions in the State and for the general upkeep ofDrumthwacket, the State executive mansion in Princeton, and other expenses.

The $95,000 expense account is atop the $175,000 a year salary Christiegets as governor. Not only is the $95,000 expense account more than half his yearly salary, there is no law, rule, or requirement to make the payouts public. None of the eight governors who had the expense accounts have had to tell the people what happened to the money.

The authorization for the expense account is listed in the Chief Executive portion of the budget with the following description: “Allowance to the Governor of funds not otherwise appropriated, for official reception on behalf of the state, operation of an official residence and other expenses.”

The account was first created for Governor Brendan Byrne in the mid-1970s and has been renewed automatically every year since. The amount was boosted from $75,000 to $95,000 a year Governor Christine Whitman 12 years ago.

The late Democrat Assemblyman Alan Karcher of Middlesex County bristled that there was no accounting of the governor’s expense allowance. He felt it should be public, but his efforts failed to make it so because the consensus was and still is that such a move would be demeaning to a governor. So, to this day, the expense account of the governor, at $95,000 a year, is the only line item in the entire budget that is not public. 

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As reported by app.com, the nearly month-long standoff in the Wisconsin Legislature over explosive union rights legislation rocketed toward a dramatic finish after Senate Republicans outmaneuvered their missing Democratic counterparts and pushed through the bill.

The extraordinary turn of events late Wednesday, March 9, 2011, set up a perfunctory vote Thursday morning in the Assembly on the measure that would strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from most public workers. Once the bill passes the Assembly, it heads to Republican Governor Scott Walker for his signature.

Within hours after the Senate passed the bill, a crowd of hundreds of protesters grew to about 7,000 in the Capitol, a crowd as large as any seen inside the building in three weeks of demonstrations. “The whole world is watching!” protesters shouted as they pressed up against the heavily guarded entrance to the Senate chamber. Most protesters left by midnight, many were expected back Thursday, but dozens of others spent the night in the Capitol corridors. State officials said no attempts would be made to force them to leave.

The bill had been stymied after all 14 Senate Democrats fled to Illinois nearly three weeks ago, preventing the chamber from having enough members present to pass it. Walker introduced it to plug a $137 million budget shortfall. The Senate requires a quorum of 20 to take up any measures that spend money. A special committee of lawmakers from the Senate and Assembly voted late Wednesday afternoon to take all the spending measures out of the legislation and the Senate approved it minutes later, 18-1. Republican Senator Dale Schultz cast the lone no vote. 

Until Wednesday’s vote, it appeared the standoff would persist until Democrats returned to Madison from their self-imposed exile. However, in a matter of minutes, it was over. “ in 30 minutes, 18 state senators undid 50 years of civil rights in Wisconsin. Their disrespect for the people of Wisconsin and their rights is an outrage that will never be forgotten,” said Democratic Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller. “Tonight, 18 Senate Republicans conspired to take government away from the people.”

Walker had repeatedly argued that collective bargaining is a budget issue, because his proposed changes would give local governments the flexibility to confront the budget cuts needed to close the state’s $3.6 billion deficit. He has said that without the changes, he may have needed to layoff 1,500 state workers and make other cuts to balance the budget. 

The measure forbids most government workers from collectively bargaining for wage increases beyond the rate of inflation unless approved by referendum. It also requires public workers to pay more toward their pensions and double their health insurance contribution, a combination equivalent to an 8 percent pay cut for the average worker. Police and firefighters are exempt. 

Walker’s proposal touched off a national debate over union rights for public employees and prompted tens of thousands of demonstrators to converge on Wisconsin’s capital city for weeks of protests.

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As reported by app.com, State Senate President Stephen Sweeney said he will push for a law aimed at moving the State’s 566 municipalities into shared-service agreements. Sweeney said he would introduce the legislation this week.

The bill is expected to revive the Local Unit Alignment, Reorganization and Consolidation Commission (“LUARC”), created some four years ago, but which lost its funding in the current state budget. Under the current proposal, municipalities would be encouraged to come up with shared-services plans. If towns fail to make arrangements to share services, the commission could go into those towns and recommend plans that would be put to voters for approval. Voters would have to approve the measure in order for the municipality to avoid a reduction in state aid corresponding to the amount of money that would have been saved through the shared services agreement.  

Although numerous government entities across the state have begun to share services, Sweeney’s plan, if enacted, would represent the first effort by state government to push municipalities to do such things as combine police forces or fire departments, merge garbage pickup, or purchase items in bulk together. 

Sweeney, at a meeting with the Editorial Board of the Asbury Park Press, said he also wants to encourage counties to share services. “If you don’t want more cost-effective government, that’s fine, but (the state) shouldn’t be subsidizing it,” Sweeney said. He also said that local voters are often reluctant to approve or support plans that result in the layoffs or demotions of familiar faces in municipal governments.

Sweeney, a former Gloucester County freeholder, noted that he combined that county’s vocational-technical and special services schools to save $1.3 million a year, and instituted a countywide police dispatch system in order to save money. He acknowledged, though, that the police dispatch initiative took eight years to implement and more work needs to be done. He also said he though it would be too soon for the shared-services proposals to be put to local voters this year.  

Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for Governor Chris Christie, said the Republican would consider Sweeney’s plan and judge it on the details, but also wanted the Democrat-controlled Legislature to pass more of Christie’s so-called tool kit bills also aimed at reducing property taxes.

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As reported by nj.com, days before the governor’s office and the state’s largest public employees union are scheduled to sit down for the first time, lawmakers are receiving letters warning of dire results that could come from changing employee benefits through law.

A letter, cosigned by 48 labor attorneys, claims that if lawmakers move forward on Governor Chris Christie’s plan to force employees to pay 30 percent of the health costs, it would eliminate any future ability to negotiate on the subject. It is the latest in a brewing war between Christie and the state’s public employee unions over their benefits and whether they should be changed through legislation. 

“We want decision makers in Trenton to understand that we have a well-established legal right to negotiate over health benefits,” said Bob Masters, political director for the Communication Workers of America, which represents the majority of the state’s unionized employees.

Christie argues that since previous state employees received increases in benefits through legislation, there is nothing stopping him from reducing benefits through the same route. “They ought not complain when they have received benefits legislatively in the past,” Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts said.

The letters come in advance of a Friday meeting between the administration and the CWA. It will be the first meeting to discuss contracts that expire in June. The meeting will not include Christie, his spokesman Kevin Roberts said, but will be conducted by a representative of the administration. In previous contract negotiations, discussions between the administration and the unions began months earlier.

Christie has said he does not intend for health benefits to be a topic of this year’s negotiations. While the last contract, negotiated by former Gov. Jon Corzine, increased the cost of health benefits for employees, Christie says he will seek larger contributions and get them through law, not bargaining. Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney each have legislative proposals that would make state employees pay more for health insurance.   

The unions argue that historically only the pension benefits have been changed via legislation and that Sweeney’s bill, or any similar proposal, would strip them of bargaining rights they have previously been entitled to.

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As reported by trentonian.com, New Jersey’s state government unions are up against more than a combative Governor Chris Christie going into contract negotiations. They are up against numbers regarding their salary, which were recently released and could complicate their efforts to rally public opinion to their side.

More than 17,000 union represented state employees have salaries of $75,000 or higher. They account for a record 75 percent of total employees in this pay range, including management and patronage employees. Union represented employees now hold 43 percent of jobs paying $100,000 or more, also a record proportion. These Civil Service figures are as of January 1, 2010.

The two biggest of a dozen state employee unions are the Communications Workers of America, representing about 37,000 employees, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (“AFSCME”), bargaining for about 9,900 state workers. Governor Christie has declared himself ready, even eager, to do some hard-nosed negotiations. He served notice at a recent town meeting that unions should not expect him to join them in “holding hands” around the bargaining table and singing “Kumbaya.”

Union representatives have no such expectations. “We’re aware of the [fiscal] situation and public mood,” said one AFSCME member, not authorized to speak for the union and commenting anonymously. “We’re not looking for a sweetheart contract or expecting one. We’re looking for a fair contract, one that doesn’t shift all the burden onto us.”

CWA says it has made concessions previously, contrary to the impression given by the blustery Christie. These concessions included a deferral of a scheduled raise in 2009, the acceptance of a pay cut in the form of uncompensated furlough days, and an agreement to take on a bigger employee share of pension and medical-coverage costs. 

New Jersey’s contract talks open at a time when states face big annual budget shortfalls and massive unfunded long-term liabilities in promised pension and health benefits. New Jersey liabilities by one official calculation surpass $120 billion, four times the annual state budget. Other calculations set the sum even higher.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a Republican, has positioned himself in the center of America’s public sector labor battle zone. He’s proposing to sharply curtail bargaining parameters, including taking benefits off the table. He also proposed to stop payroll deductions for union dues, forcing the unions to collect their own dues, a potentially crippling blow to them financially. Christie has stopped short of going that far. But, he has drawn the national limelight, alongside Walker, with his union-taunting remarks and stated willingness to go to the mat.

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As reported by nj.com, leaders of police and firefighter unions slammed Governor Chris Christie at a rally outside the Statehouse on March 3, 2011. 

Bill Lavin, president of the New Jersey Firefighter’s Mutual Benevolent Association, said Christie loves police and firefighters, but hates the unions because “he hates your voice.” Lavin said the Governor wants to take away hard-earned benefits for police and firefighters, then deliver the eulogies at their funerals. In response to Christie calling the rally a “me-first rally” at a press conference, Lavin said he agrees with the Governor’s assessment of the event. “I agree with him,” he said. “Every time the bell rings, every time shots are fired, you people say, ‘me first, I go in first.’ ”

The rally was expected to draw a crowd of more than 8,000, but Lavin said he was told the crowd was in excess of 15,000.

The president of Lakewood PBA, Gary Przewoznik, said he was on his way to a PBA meeting to tell Lakewood officers that jobs had been saved through a compromise with the township when he got the call that Officer Christopher Matlosz had been shot. “The assassination of Chris Matlosz served as a reminder to all of us that our jobs are vital to our communities,” he said. “We are the good guys.”  

Christie blamed the unions for cuts in public safety, citing examples in Camden and Newark where unions could have made concessions to save jobs. The governor said it is the unions’ civil rights to protest. When asked what effect such rallies have on his decision-making, Christie said, “Zero. Absolutely Zero.”

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As reported by trentonian.com, the leader of the state Senate says pension and health care benefits for public safety workers cost an average of $47,000 a year, an ever-increasing amount that will bankrupt local governments unless workers start paying more. Senate President Stephen Sweeney released the figures from the Municipal Managers Association, on the eve of a public safety rally that could draw up to 10,000 off duty police and firefighters to the Statehouse to protest staffing cuts and proposed benefit changes.

Sweeney, a Democrat, has been called out by public safety union leaders who vehemently oppose his proposed health care changes, which are similar to what Republican Governor Chris Christie has proposed. Sweeney and Christie insist they are attempting to keep the pension and health benefits systems solvent, not hurt workers.

The public unions say Christie is breaking a promise not to tinker with their retirement benefits and the most powerful Democrat in the Legislature is going along. The pension and health benefits systems are significantly underfunded. The pension funds for police and firefighters, teachers, judges and state, county, and municipal workers are underfunded by $54 billion. The health care system is underfunded by $67 billion.

Public sector workers now pay 1.5 percent of their salaries toward healthcare. They pay varying percentages of their salaries toward pensions: judges pay 3 percent, teachers put in 5.5 percent, state police 7.5 percent and police and firefighters 8.5 percent.

Sweeney’s proposal would expand the number of available health insurance plans, and it calls for workers to contribute 12 percent to 30 percent of the cost of the premium, depending on their income. The plan would be phased in over seven years for families and four years for single-coverage employees. Those making up to $30,000 a year would be expected to pay up to 12 percent of their premiums at full phase-in, while those making $100,000 or more would be required to contribute 30 percent. Sweeney’s plan shields retirees, but would require future retirees to contribute a fixed amount each year, between $2,280 and $5,700, based on pension level.

Christie wants benefits changes that make the health insurance system more like the private sector or the federal government, with employees paying about one-third of the costs of whatever benefits plan they choose and the government picking up the other two-thirds. Automatic cost-of-living increases would be eliminated.

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As reported by nj.com, leaders of New Jersey’s public workers unions said they will launch a full court press against a bill sponsored by Senate President Stephen Sweeney that would force public employees to pay more for their health care benefits. The unions have called the bill an attempt to throw out collective bargaining rights.

Hetty Rosenstein, state director for the Communication Workers of America, said her union would picket, extract pledges from lawmakers to oppose it and hold “lobby days” against the bill over the next several weeks. “It becomes illegal to negotiate anything different than what’s in that bill,” she said. “It preempts all collective bargaining.”

Bill Lavin, president of the state Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association, said police and firefighters will protest it at a Statehouse rally and press all 120 lawmakers. “It’s totally unacceptable. I think if that were to pass, it will guarantee that the Democrats will lose the majority,” he said. “We’re shocked that Steve Sweeney, who calls himself a Democrat, would act in this manner…He’s rolled over for the governor in every instance.”

The pushback comes as the legislation has gained bipartisan support in the state Senate, with Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) signing on as a prime sponsor. Public employees pay 1.5 percent of their salaries towards their health benefits. Under Sweeney’s plan and a proposal by Governor Chris Christie, workers would pay a portion of their premiums instead and would have more plans to choose from.

Under Christie’s plan, public workers would pay 30 percent of their premiums within three years. Under Sweeney’s, they would pay a sliding scale based on income, with the highest earners eventually paying 30 percent. Christie’s plan would require current retirees to pay part of their premiums.

Beck said she still has reservations about parts of the bill. She agreed with Sweeney that employees should pay rates based on their income, but agreed with Christie that current retirees should pay part of their premiums. Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts said the governor’s office was not upset that Beck signed onto the Democratic proposal.

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