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Corzine reported to want Doria in a top education spot
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
BY JOSH MARGOLIN AND DEBORAH HOWLETT
Star-Ledger Staff
Gov. Jon Corzine is negotiating to name Sen. Joseph Doria (D-Hudson) to a top spot in his administration -- either as education commissioner or a chief adviser on education -- according to three officials who have been briefed on the talks.
Corzine's plan, according to the sources, is to assign Doria immediately to shepherd one of his top priorities: revamping New Jersey's much-criticized school-funding formula.
The governor hopes to make the announcement by the end of the month, but is being held up by uncertainty over the fate of the current education commissioner, Lucille Davy, as well as other considerations, said the officials, who asked not to be identified because final details have not yet been decided.
"Joe Doria would be an asset to this administration and there are a variety of positions for which he is eminently qualified," Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley said last night.
Doria did not respond to messages seeking comment.
As Assembly speaker during Gov. Jim Florio's administration, Doria sponsored and helped pass in 1990 the Quality Education Act, Florio's controversial overhaul of the school funding formula. It used money generated by a hike in the state income tax to increase state spending on schools, with a large portion directed to the poorest urban districts.
Davy said yesterday she has not heard that Corzine is considering replacing her.
"I'm pretty busy getting my work done, so I may be the last one to hear," Davy said.
A one-time math teacher who has a law degree, Davy has focused on school funding and testing issues during her brief tenure. Corzine elevated her from acting commissioner to commissioner last summer, after a protracted national search ended with Corzine's first choice backing out over salary issues.
Asked if she would resign to clear a path for Doria, Davy said: "I serve at the pleasure of the governor."
Senate President Richard Codey, a Doria ally, first named Davy acting commissioner when he took over as governor in 2005. Codey declined to comment on the idea of replacing Davy with Doria, but said Corzine would be hitting a home run by tapping into Doria's expertise.
"Joe would be fabulous for the administration if, in fact, that's what Joe wants for his future," said Codey (D-Essex), who two years ago pushed unsuccessfully to get Doria hired as president of Ramapo College.
"Joe knows education -- he knows it inside and out," Codey said. "They need him and anybody else that can help them with something as complicated and tough as that (the school-funding process), to get it through the Legislature and be able to sell it to the education community."
Doria, 59, who is not seeking re-election to the Senate, is considered one of Trenton's foremost experts on education policy and is well practiced in Statehouse politics.
He holds a bachelor's degree from Saint Peter's College in Jersey City, where he has also taught and worked as an administrator, and a doctorate in educational leadership.
Doria began his political career on the Bayonne Board of Education in the 1970s. A fixture in Trenton for nearly three decades, Doria racked up 12 terms in the Assembly, including a stint as chairman of the education committee. He was ousted from his Assembly seat in 2004, but returned to Legislature in 2005 as a senator after the unexpected death of Sen. Glenn Cunningham. In March, Doria announced he would not stand for re-election.
Doria has been mayor of Bayonne since 1998 and has nearly three years left in his current term, his third. If named commissioner, Doria would have to leave the mayor's office immediately. However, he would have more flexibility if he was given a post as an adviser to the governor on education.
Were Doria to be nominated as commissioner, he would also face confirmation in the Senate, although tradition dictates senators do not object when one of their own stands before them.
Policy aides to the governor do not need Senate confirmation.
Staff writer John Mooney contributed to this report.
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JUNE 12 State Democratic leaders have reached a tentative budget accord but are still thrashing out the final details, State Treasurer Bradley Abelow said this afternoon.
Princeton Public Affairs Group will continue to send you updates as more details become available and things develop.
Lawmakers are aiming for final legislative approval of the budget by June 21, nine days before the fiscal year ends. The agreement is one of the earliest in recent history.
"We have reached a consensus on the broad parameters of what the budget will look like,'' Abelow said, while emphasizing that minor tinkering still will be done in coming days.
Abelow said he expects the budget to be in the range of $33.4 billion to $33.5 billion -- slightly larger than the $33.3 billion budget proposed by Corzine in February. Corzine and the two legislative leaders also have agreed to keeping the surplus at least $600 million. The budget will have no new taxes or fee increases, and maintains a record amount for property tax relief, about $16.6 billion. About $2 billion is dedicated to rebates that will average about $1,051 for homeowners.
Abelow also said state officials have agreed to a new formula for disbursing state subsidies to hospitals that provide unreimbursed care to the uninsured. The current budget includes $595 million in so-called "charity care" aid that is distributed through a formula, plus about $112 million in grants that were added by lawmakers. Corzine's proposed budget excluded the grants, but the revised spending plan is expected to include at least that much -- though Abelow said the full amount now will be disbursed through a new, updated formula.
He said precautions will be taken so no hospital gets cut too much or receives too large of the windfall. The New Jersey Hospital Association has been lobbying for a total of $881 million in aid to hospitals -- $740 million for charity care, $100 million for teaching hospitals and $41 million for "hold harmless'' adjustments due to formula revisions.
Lawmakers expect two public hearings -- including one this week -- before final passage of the budget a week from Thursday. The state's constitutional deadline to sign a budget is July .
Action in Trenton
N.J. must OK schools out-of-state for disabled
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
State officials would be required to inspect schools outside New Jersey before they allow disabled children to attend them under a bill the Assembly amended yesterday.
"Billy's Law" (A3570/S2490) creates a Council of Out-of-State Placement of Children, and re quires that it keep an on-line registry of schools and residential facilities that meet its approval.
The council also would be re quired to analyze why disabled people need out-of-state programs and what New Jersey can do to keep the people within its borders, according to the bill.
The Assembly amended the bill yesterday to make it identical to what a Senate committee approved Thursday. The changes are minor; they include adding the state Education Commissioner and the Child Advocate to the council, allowing the council to hire private companies to perform the school evaluations, and defining a school or facility as outside the state if it is more than 30 miles from the New Jersey border.
The bill is named after Billy Al banese of Brooklyn, a 35-year-old man living with a traumatic brain injury who attended Bancroft Neu rohealth in Haddonfield from 1992 to 1997. Left unsupervised in his wheelchair on several occasions, Al banese suffered three falls and re quired a total of 40 stitches on his face and head, according to his father, Vito Albanese.
