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2-25-10 In the News
Statehouse Bureau 'N.J. Gov. Christie to mayors: Brace for state aid cuts' "...Christie, who last week said school districts should prepare for up to 15 percent cuts, did not say Wednesday how much less aid municipalities should expect when he delivers the budget address March 16. The Republican governor also gave no specifics on his plans for arbitration — an out-of-court process when a third party decides the terms of a contract to resolve an impasse — but said changes would "level the playing field" for towns and school boards...
Philadelphia Inquirer'Jumping over a cliff with Christie' "In a speech to about 150 mayors in the statehouse Wednesday, Gov. Christie said that the state's dire budget situation reminded him of the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid..."


N.J. Gov. Christie to mayors: Brace for state aid cuts

Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Last updated: Wednesday February 24, 2010, 6:01 PM

BY CLAIRE HEININGER  STATE HOUSE BUREAU

TRENTON -- Governor Christie told mayors Wednesday to brace for state aid cuts in his upcoming budget, but promised he would also provide help in the form of pension, benefit and arbitration reform.

Christie, who last week said school districts should prepare for up to 15 percent cuts, did not say Wednesday how much less aid municipalities should expect when he delivers the budget address March 16. The Republican governor also gave no specifics on his plans for arbitration — an out-of-court process when a third party decides the terms of a contract to resolve an impasse — but said changes would "level the playing field" for towns and school boards.

Public employee unions Wednesday said Christie should stop meddling in collective bargaining. But the governor said "there’s something wrong" when raises for public employees exceed the annual 4 percent cap on budget increases at the local level.

"We don’t have the money, so you need to prepare for what’s coming down the line," he said in a speech at the New Jersey League of Municipalities 18th Annual Mayor’s Legislative Day. "You all know that these raises that are being given to public employees of all stripes, we can’t afford. You all know the state can’t continue to spend money it doesn’t have. And you all know that the appetite for tax increases among our constituents has come to an end."

Christie, who has previously said he "can’t see eliminating binding arbitration" for police and fire personnel, received cheers from mayors who said rule changes could mean major savings in a system they claim favors labor unions. But local officials said those savings would not occur right away — while the pain from cuts in local aid would hit taxpayers immediately.

"He’s going to have to take them on, but it won’t help this year and it won’t help next year," said East Orange Mayor Robert Bowser, a Democrat who predicted layoffs at the local level.

State PBA president Anthony Wieners, said changes to binding arbitration would put public safety workers at a disadvantage because they do not have the ability to strike.

"You’re not dealing with somebody who’s cleaning the streets, you’re dealing with police officers and firefighters," said Wieners, who represents 33,000 employees. "It’s a system that has been in place for many years, and it works."

School districts do not have binding arbitration for labor negotiations, but Christie’s transition team recommended allowing school districts to invoke a "last best offer" when negotiations have been exhausted. School board officials say that would save money and time, but the New Jersey Education Association teachers union is against it. "We do not believe that the playing field is tilted in favor of labor in New Jersey," NJEA spokesman Steve Baker said.

-- Lisa Fleisher contributed to this report.

 

TRENTON -- Governor Christie told mayors Wednesday to brace for state aid cuts in his upcoming budget, but promised he would also provide help in the form of pension, benefit and arbitration reform.

Christie, who last week said school districts should prepare for up to 15 percent cuts, did not say Wednesday how much less aid municipalities should expect when he delivers the budget address March 16. The Republican governor also gave no specifics on his plans for arbitration — an out-of-court process when a third party decides the terms of a contract to resolve an impasse — but said changes would "level the playing field" for towns and school boards.

Public employee unions Wednesday said Christie should stop meddling in collective bargaining. But the governor said "there’s something wrong" when raises for public employees exceed the annual 4 percent cap on budget increases at the local level.

"We don’t have the money, so you need to prepare for what’s coming down the line," he said in a speech at the New Jersey League of Municipalities 18th Annual Mayor’s Legislative Day. "You all know that these raises that are being given to public employees of all stripes, we can’t afford. You all know the state can’t continue to spend money it doesn’t have. And you all know that the appetite for tax increases among our constituents has come to an end."

Christie, who has previously said he "can’t see eliminating binding arbitration" for police and fire personnel, received cheers from mayors who said rule changes could mean major savings in a system they claim favors labor unions. But local officials said those savings would not occur right away — while the pain from cuts in local aid would hit taxpayers immediately.

"He’s going to have to take them on, but it won’t help this year and it won’t help next year," said East Orange Mayor Robert Bowser, a Democrat who predicted layoffs at the local level.

State PBA president Anthony Wieners, said changes to binding arbitration would put public safety workers at a disadvantage because they do not have the ability to strike.

"You’re not dealing with somebody who’s cleaning the streets, you’re dealing with police officers and firefighters," said Wieners, who represents 33,000 employees. "It’s a system that has been in place for many years, and it works."

School districts do not have binding arbitration for labor negotiations, but Christie’s transition team recommended allowing school districts to invoke a "last best offer" when negotiations have been exhausted. School board officials say that would save money and time, but the New Jersey Education Association teachers union is against it. "We do not believe that the playing field is tilted in favor of labor in New Jersey," NJEA spokesman Steve Baker said.

-- Lisa Fleisher contributed to this report.

 

 

 

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Jumping over a cliff with Christie

In a speech to about 150 mayors in the statehouse Wednesday, Gov. Christie said that the state's dire budget situation reminded him of the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

At one point in the movie, Butch and the Sundance Kid, who are being chased by authorities for robbing banks, reach the edge of a cliff and must decide whether they should get shot from behind or take a chance and jump off the cliff, hoping to survive. The two hold hands and make the leap.

"It's time for us to hold hands and jump off the cliff, to do the things that need to be done," Christie told the mayors, adding that it was time to end the petty politics of yesterday.

"If all of you are a little bit nervous, I'll jump first with my hands behind me, hoping that I feel other hands clutching onto my hands, my shirt, my pants," he continued. "We're going to make the leap because it's the responsible thing to do. That's what leadership demands of us." The alternative, Christie said, was certain defeat.  

In a discussion with legislative leaders after Christie's speech, Assemblyman Lou Greenwald (D., Camden), questioned the wisdom of the analogy, saying he seemed to remember the characters in the movie dying after making the leap.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R, Union) said (correctly) that his memory is that they survived the fall but were later shot to death after robbing one bank too many.

Kean said the state, likewise, has been taking too much money from taxpayers' pockets.

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