As reported in the Newark Star Ledger, the New Jersey State Legislature is in the process of acting to renew the 2% Interest Arbitration Police and Fire Salary Cap. The State Assembly’s budget committee voted to approve bill (A3067), sponsored by Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson), that would temporarily extend an annual salary cap on interest arbitration awards. The Senate’s state government committee also approved its own version of the bill (S1869), sponsored by Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester). It is expected that the bills will move the Senate and Assembly Floors this week.

In 2010, as part of Governor Christie’s self professed "tool kit" which was supposedly aimed at slowing the growth of property taxes, the Legislature enacted a 2% salary cap on interest arbitration awards. The current version of the law is set to expire on April 1, 2014. Under the proposed Assembly bill, the 2% salary cap would be extended until 2017. That’s short of the permanent cap that Gov. Chris Christie and the state League of Municipalities have called for. But it is also against the wishes of police and fire unions, who had called for the cap to be scrapped altogether.It is our understanding that the Senate bill closely mirrors the Assembly version.

In a report issued last week, unsurprisingly, a state panel tasked with examining the law was split 4-4 on whether to renew the cap. The task force was made up of four police and fire union officials, three Christie administration officials and one Republican assemblyman.

In an interview, Prieto said the bill incorporates the task force’s few unanimous recommendations: Increasing maximum pay of arbitrators from $7,500 to $10,000, giving arbitrators more time to make a decision, and giving the Public Employment Relations Commission more time to consider appeals of arbitration decisions. However, the bill will also includes some concessions to the unions, to include enlarging the cap to 3% in certain circumstances, while also allowing some unions to bargain for raises in wages without any restrictions at all.

As always, we will keep you updated as these two bills move through the Assembly and Senate.

Tags: 2% cap, A3067, Articles, Interest Arbitration, NJ Public Safety Officers, S1869, Two Percent Salary Cap
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Photo of Donald C. Barbati Donald C. Barbati

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault. In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.

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