Corzine vigorously pushes school construction

ASSOCIATED PRESS

As New Jersey lawmakers struggle to resolve differences over key spending bills, Gov. Jon S. Corzine is forcefully pushing borrowing billions without voter approval for new school construction.

"We have a legal obligation, we have a moral obligation and I frankly think we have an economic obligation," Corzine said.

The state Supreme Court in 1998 ordered the state to pay for new schools in the state's 31 poorest school districts.

But the state spent $8.6 billion on school construction without finishing all the needed work. The program was stalled by mismanagement, and Corzine has told the court he would try to get $2.5 billion approved by month's end to restart the program.

Some legislators have proposed borrowing up to $3.5 billion to restart the program, but others want to ask voters to approve the spending.

Democrats who control the Legislature were unable Thursday to resolve differences over school construction, plans to cut benefits for newly hired government workers and teachers and a $32.8 cost-cutting budget plan.

They will return today to try again in the hope of adopting the bills Monday, a week before the state's July 1 constitutional budget deadline.

Corzine has backed requiring voter approval for new borrowing, but said the school construction money is different because it is court-ordered.

"I am responding to what I think is the expectation governors take on when they put their hand on the Bible and say they'll uphold the Constitution," Corzine said. "We are responding to a court order and we are responding and operating under the rule of law."

He recalled recently visiting a Newark school that was built in 1883 and last refurbished in 1922.

"Special education kids go to class in coat closet," he said. "I think we have a moral obligation as well as a constitutional requirement to take on this challenge of educating our children in appropriate places."

He added that a renewed school construction program could also be an economic boon to the state's sluggish economy.

"I can't think of anything that would be more important than stimulating the economy than putting shovels in the ground right now to begin to build schools," he said.

Besides weighing school construction, legislators are mulling Corzine's $32.8 billion budget that cuts funding for several key services, including hospitals, municipalities, colleges and nursing homes. Corzine acknowledged the cuts would be painful, but said they are necessary.

"Making sure that we don't spend more than we take in is an absolute essential to getting the cost of living under control for our citizens, our businesses, and making sure New Jersey is a place they want to live in the future," Corzine said.

Republicans contend the budget simply passes state costs onto property taxpayers.

"If this budget had been crafted with the right priorities, we could have reduced the size of the budget and still been able to address the needs of seniors, those in need of health care services, families struggling to make ends meet and our state's overburdened property tax payers," said Assemblyman Joe Malone, R-Burlington.

Corzine continues to be noncommittal to the pension reforms, which legislators insist are needed to help pay for retirement incentives Corzine wants to offer to 2,000 state workers. Public unions oppose the cuts.

"I think we have to be very careful about unintended consequences," Corzine said.

Corzine urges school construction

He calls on legislators to restart stalled program with an extra $3.9B

Friday, June 20, 2008

BY JOHN MOONEY

Star-Ledger Staff

Calling it both a legal and moral responsibility, Gov. Jon Corzine yesterday pressed the Legislature to revive New Jersey's school construction program to the tune of another $3.9 billion.

But the legislation stalled last night in both the Senate and Assembly budget committees, with lawmakers now slated to take them up this afternoon.

Corzine spoke adamantly in the morning about the need for new borrowing to restart the court-ordered construction effort on behalf of the state's urban districts, which essentially shut down amid scandal in 2005 after the first $8.6 billion was spent.

"I am truly hopeful the Legislature will see its way to fulfill not only the Constitutional obligation but also a moral obligation," Corzine said after a tour of the Franklin Elementary School in Kearny, where he was promoting his budget's education funding.

He spoke of a century-old school in Newark's Ironbound where some instruction for special education students is held in renovated coat closets due to lack of space.

"When kids are being educated in a coat closet, we have to say enough is enough," he said.

The construction program for the urban districts was ordered by the state Supreme Court in 1998 as part of the Abbott vs. Burke rulings. But it was stopped in 2005 with the money spent and only a fraction of promised projects completed, as questions were raised about waste and mismanagement in the then-School Construction Corp.

Corzine's new proposal went beyond his initial plan to restart the program, adding another $1.4 billion overall to his initial $2.5 billion proposal.

An additional $400 million would go to projects in the Abbott districts that were halted midway in 2005. In addition, $950 million would be added to help subsidize projects in non-Abbott districts, in a political nod to suburban legislators and their constituents.

Under the latest version of the bill, non-Abbott districts with approved projects would get a minimum 40 percent of their construction costs covered by the state, with the percentage increasing in less well-off districts.

Some legislators have been leery about moving ahead on new borrowing for school construction at the same time Corzine is promoting a separate constitutional amendment that would require voters to approve all new borrowing.

Corzine said yesterday he stood by that proposed amendment, but said the Abbott construction should not fall under that requirement because it is required by state Supreme Court orders.

© 2008  The Star Ledger

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After Assembly OK, budget stalls in Senate

Committee puts off vote as majority leader says many details 'need to be worked out'

Friday, June 20, 2008

BY ROBERT SCHWANEBERG AND JOE DONOHUE

Star-Ledger Staff

A $32.9 billion state budget that imposes no new taxes but cuts homestead rebates and aid to towns and hospitals stalled in the Senate Budget Committee last night after it had cleared its counterpart in the Assembly.

The Assembly panel approved the spending plan by a party-line vote of 7-4, with all of the Republicans voting against it. It recessed about 7:30 p.m. and is scheduled to reconvene this afternoon.

The Senate Budget Committee approved a trio of budget-related bills but then adjourned without voting on the budget itself. It is scheduled to reconvene today.

"There's a lot of details that still need to be worked out," said Senate Majority Leader Stephen Swee ney (D-Gloucester).

The bills approved by the Senate panel would extend a utility tax that was supposed to be phased out, divert $9 million from shore protection to keep state parks open and tap $684 million from this year's surplus to retire state debt.

Both committees have yet to tackle other contentious bills to borrow $3.9 billion for school construction and to raise the retirement age and reduce pension benefits for new teachers and state workers.

Sweeney conceded school and pensions are both sticking points. "We're getting there though," he said.

As his committee broke for the evening, Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Louis Greenwald (D-Camden) said, "It just gives us some time to work things out. The most important thing is the budget's through."

He noted that the budget is $600 million less than the one adopted a year ago and $100 million less than the one Gov. Jon Corzine proposed in February.

"I know that there's pain in this budget," Greenwald said, adding it was "dictated by a national reces sion and revenues that are down. The reality is the needs outweigh the dollars."

Assemblyman Joseph Malone (R-Burlington), the ranking Republican on the panel, said it was "probably one of the best budgets" the Democrats have produced since they regained control in 2002, but still represented a missed opportunity.

Republicans had offered a plan to restore homestead rebates and finance road repairs by cutting aid to urban schools and patronage jobs and requiring givebacks of state worker benefits, among other cuts.

"Unfortunately, the budget re leased today will simply shift costs from the state to the local level, which will hurt property taxpayers," Malone said.

Although the budget imposes no new taxes, it continues a $246 million utility tax that had been scheduled to be phased out over three years. Senate Republicans opposed the extension.

"The business climate is terrible. This bill will make it worse," Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunter don) said.

Assemblyman Declan O'Scan lon (R-Monmouth) said cuts in municipal aid will translate into higher property taxes. Greenwald said even with the cuts in property tax relief, "more money goes back to property taxpayers than in the history of the state."

Assemblywoman Joan Quigley (D-Hudson) said, "The pain in this budget is being shared pretty equally by everyone."

But Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union) said his district was not being treated fairly in terms of aid to hospitals. Although he voted to release the bill, he added, "We have a lot of work to do before Monday," when the full Assembly is scheduled to vote on the budget.

The Assembly Budget Commit tee also approved a bill intended to pare the state workforce by provid ing incentives to take early retirement.

Rae Roeder, president of Communications Workers of America Local 1033, said that was "a good idea" but objected to the creation of a "workforce reduction planning board." She said it would force layoffs in departments that fall short of their retirement goals.

Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) said the board's purpose is to make sure savings from early retirements are realized.

Staff writer Dunstan McNichol contributed to this report.