"State's unions ought to heed Corzine's call for a pay freeze"

Governor seeks extra $812M in cutbacksAx to fall on everything from cities to agricultureTuesday, January 06, 2009BY CLAIRE HEININGER AND SUSAN K. LIVIOStar-Ledger StaffFrom a budget he once described as cutting spending "cold turkey," Gov. Jon Corzine yesterday proposed slicing $812 million more to keep pace with the economic crisis.The emergency cuts stretch across state government departments and programs, including some of Corzine's most cherished, like the state comptroller and stem cell research. Grants were frozen for cancer research and homeland security, and aid to public schools and towns will suffer."These are deep cuts that touch every corner of state government," the governor said."We scraped the bottom of the barrel," added state Treasurer David Rousseau. "There were accounts that we found that had 99 cents left in them."The cutbacks, some of which require legislative approval, are part of unprecedented midyear changes to the budget. Hearings will occur in the coming weeks, bumping up against the March introduction of Corzine's next spending plan, Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) said."This brings about a whole new sea change in how we view budgets," said William Dressel, the longtime executive director of the state League of Municipalities. "I say it's not over until it's over -- what I'm finding out is it's never over."Yesterday's details came after Corzine announced last week that New Jersey faces a $2.1 billion shortfall in the $32.9 billion budget that took effect July 1. That budget sliced spending by $600 million, and Corzine heralded that as a major accomplishment.Besides the extra spending cuts, the Democratic governor wants to close the gap with an 18-month wage freeze for state workers, $300 million from a proposed federal stimulus package, diverting $500 million from $650 million intended to pay down state debt, and other steps.State worker unions oppose reopening their contracts for the wage freeze and say Corzine should raise taxes on the wealthy instead.While the governor is not proposing tax increases for the current year, he has not ruled out raising taxes or fees for the new budget he will present in March. He said the negotiations could avoid harsher measures like layoffs or furloughs."He's really covered a broad field of programs," Codey said, adding the governor is right to try to stay away from tax hikes if at all possible. "As painful as these cuts are, just think about what next year's budget cuts are going to have to be."Among the hardest hit yesterday were the Department of Agriculture, where a $4.2 million cut represents more than 18 percent of its budget, and the Department of Child Advocate, which was cut $1.1 million, nearly half its budget.The State Commission of Investigation lost $1.5 million from a $4.9 million budget."It's an extremely serious cut that undoubtedly will affect the SCI's ability to fulfill its statutory mission as an independent investigative agency," said spokesman Lee Seglem. "We're going to need to evaluate our caseload going into the second half of our fiscal year. I would point out that we do work that generally saves taxpayers money."Corzine proposed taking $47 million from the state rental assistance program this year -- a program he has expanded as part of his anti-poverty agenda.At least one advocate for poor families said the cut is not as dire as it appears because no one is expected to lose housing assistance if they are getting it now. The money was taken from an escrow account dedicated to yet-to-be built housing units."The good news is that no money is being taken out of ongoing programs and there is not an 'across-the-board' cut that would impact all kinds of safety net programs," said the Rev. Bruce Davidson, director of the Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry of New Jersey. "The risk is that future administrations might cut the rental assistance voucher program back."The aid reductions of $15 million to municipalities and $75 million to public schools could be offset if Corzine's proposal to allow local governments and school districts to defer pension payments clears the Legislature, Rousseau said. That plan stalled in December when it failed to gather enough support from Senate Democrats.Republican legislative leaders, who sued the governor last week to force him to disclose his proposed budget cuts, accused Corzine of not making enough meaningful changes to improve the state's bottom line."For years, the governor has ignored the demands of middle-class taxpayers not to expand government beyond the ability of the people to pay over the long haul," Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R-Union) and Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Morris) said in a joint statement.But Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Lou Greenwald (D-Camden) said Corzine showed the severity of the situation by targeting some of the programs he cares about the most."No one relishes these cuts," Greenwald said, "but if the governor is looking at those programs, it's a sign that everyone needs to share in the pain and focus on surviving this crisis." Staff writer Josh Margolin contributed to this report.©2009 Star Ledger© 2009 NJ.com All Rights Reserved. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ My Central Jersey. com , January 6, 2009 State's unions ought to heed Corzine's call for a pay freeze It is truly remarkable how the economic woes of New Jersey's private workers have apparently escaped the notice of state union leaders. Presented last week with a proposal by Gov. Jon S. Corzine to freeze state workers' pay for the next 18 months — a means of helping the state get past its fiscal travails — labor chiefs practically shrieked in horror at the idea, warning they'd never give back and never give in. A shame. Insulting, too — to the Governor's Office, to state legislators, to New Jersey businesses, and to New Jersey taxpayers as a whole, since each has been forced to make its own often tortuous monetary concessions in order to survive the national recession. It is only reasonable that state workers be asked to shoulder at least some of that load as well, and then accept that burden with grace and understanding. The governor, long a friend of organized labor, no doubt agonized before he floated this politically treacherous, last-resort option. But he realizes, as does anyone with half a brain, that New Jersey cannot survive the difficult months ahead without some relief from its salary obligations. There simply isn't the money in state coffers to pay its workers as if this was a time of financial plenty, not without falling deeper into trouble. Private-sector workers, if they're fortunate enough to still have jobs, have watched their salaries frozen or even reduced. Then there are those people who are losing their homes, as homes sales tank and foreclosures mount. State labor leaders apparently have forgotten that these citizens pay the unions' freight, or maybe it's just that they don't really care; just give us ours seems to be their motto. But Corzine can no longer protect their backs, not if he's to be a responsible fiscal steward. New Jersey's budget shortfall has now grown to a heady $2.1 billion — and is likely rising — against the backdrop of plunging tax receipts coming to the state. As Corzine said on Friday, "We have more cuts coming, absolutely we have more cuts coming." And that was after he had talked about the proposed wage freeze for state workers — an estimated savings of $22 million this year and $130 next — plus cutting spending by $812 million and raiding New Jersey's rainy-day surplus to the tune of $983 million. He went on to add that the decline in tax revenue "has been picking up steam." In reply, New Jerseyans were treated to utterances such as this: "Although we will always work with the governor to find ways to both raise revenues and save money, we are not going to reopen our contracts," said Sheryl Gorden, executive director of AFSCME union Council 1. "Those contracts were based on the principles of mutual sacrifice, with workers agreeing to make increased contributions to the cost of health care and pensions, in return for modest wage increases." Guess what? Those small concessions are no longer enough, not with what the economy has become today. Moving forward, Corzine is talking about layoffs as one other means of paring state expenses should the unions balk at a pay freeze. He can do more than that. He should promise job cuts, the kind that save really big dollars. Then watch how fast union leaders change their tune.