The Day of Reckoning Fast Approaches in New Jersey

New Jersey residents are about to feel the cold sting of a strike by NJ Transit rail workers. They've been without a contract for years and the matter has gone to federal mediators, who have ruled multiple times in favor of the unions:

Several union representatives and elected officials speaking at the rally urged state leaders to accept recommendations from a Presidential Emergency Board, which sided with the unions. NJ Transit officials rejected those recommendations.

At least one of the remaining sticking points surrounds health benefits, with the unions offering to pay 2.5 percent of their straight time salary for health benefits.

NJ Transit wants employees to pay 10 to 20 percent of premiums, depending on which plan they're covered by.

Transit and rail union officials sat down Friday with federal mediators National Mediation Board in Washington, D.C., where the two sides discussed a new offer from the agency to avert a March 13 strike or lockout.

While the two sides failed to reach a settlement, a release from the National Mediation Board said the discussions were "positive and constructive."

Asked if an agreement is in the offing, coalition spokesman Stephen Burkert declined to discuss details.

"We're closer now than we were months ago," Burkert said following the rally. "We want to settle this, and we want to do it at the bargaining table."

The two sides will meet again Monday in Newark in hope of hammering out a final settlement, Burkett said.

So far, Governor Chris Christie, fresh off kissing Donald Trump's ass in the GOP primaries after dropping out of the race himself because he couldn't generate any traction despite spending more time in New Hampshire than New Jersey, has been uncharacteristically silent about this major issue facing the state.

It could be that Christie doesn't know what NJ Transit is, or that it is a major economic engine for the state. Or, he doesn't know how to deal with the problem. Either way, he's been MIA on transit issues and his GOP allies in the state legislature seem more interested in slashing or abolishing the estate tax than they are making sure that the transportation trust fund and pension fund obligations are met.

Let's also point out that NJ has not raised the motor fuels tax in a generation, while NJ Transit riders have faced repeated increases in fares over the past decade because the state continues to reduce its support for transit. New Jersey is one of the states most heavily dependent on mass transit, and the cuts and fare hikes have combined to leave the agency without wiggle room to deal with contract matters with its employees.

To help close an $80 million budget gap, NJ Transit has proposed to increase its fares an average of 9 percent, effective Oct. 1, 2015. This would be the first fare increase in five years; the last fare increase averaged 22 percent. As part of this proposal, some bus and train service would also be reduced. Meanwhile, the state’s gas taxes, already among the lowest in the nation, have not been raised since 1988.

The motor fuel tax now purchases less than it did a generation ago, so there's even less money to go around.

These workers deserve pay raises and it shouldn't be shouldered entirely by the commuters.

Frankly, there's no easy answers here - but it starts with refocusing attention on how the state budgets transit. Gov. Christie went ahead and pulled money from the Port Authority to rebuild the Pulaski Skyway in a decision that the federal SEC is investigating as a potential violation of bonding with the Port Authority. That's because the state didn't have any money in the trust fund to pay for the work. All across the state, bridges and other infrastructure is crumbling, and there's no money to do all the work.

This affects the ability of residents to get around the state, and affects public safety. After all, we shouldn't have to live in fear of concrete falling off bridges, bridge abutments collapsing, or structures failing entirely. And mass transit is one way in which more people can get around the state reducing congestion and traffic. Gov. Christie has long shown disdain for mass transit and these problems are coming home to roost.

Far from showing leadership, Gov. Christie is all but abdicating his leadership role and instead focused on how his choices can best suit his political future. That's no way to run the state, and it shows.

If this strike or lockout occurs, there is simply no way for hundreds of thousands of workers to get into the City. There isn't any capacity available to add buses to cover all the displaced workers. We're talking about gridlock, lost productivity both in New Jersey and in neighboring New York. Telecommuting is the only option for those fortunate enough to have it, but for those who work in fields where they have to be there in person, this will have serious financial consequences to them, their families, and their employers.

In plain English, the NJ Transit strike contingency plan is a bunch of wishful thinking and prayers, much like their asinine plan in place before Hurricane Sandy struck and severely damaged NJ Transit's rail operations for months.

Moreover, the strike would also cripple freight movement throughout the state since NJ Transit controls tracks used by freight lines and the freight wouldn't be able to move. This would have a devastating effect across the state.

Time To Fix New Jersey's Broken Transportation Policy

Gov. Chris Christie refuses to fix the state's chronically underfunded transportation system out of the state's own revenues. This includes roads, bridges, transit, and rail systems. Rather than increase the state's low motor fuel taxes and risk the ire of Republicans who would complain about the tax hike, he's used his sway at the Port Authority to use money originally tasked to building a new rail tunnel into Manhattan to fix several bridges that aren't part of the Port Authority's mission, including the historic Pulaski Skyway.

Fixing those bridges were overdue, but it means that funds that should have gone to expanding the state's crumbling infrastructure were instead devoted to projects that should have been covered by the state's transportation trust fund but for the fact that the fund is essentially bankrupt with no relief in sight.

Christie orchestrated a fare and toll hike at the Port Authority and then turned around to use some of those funds to go and fix the Pulaski Skyway, Wittpenn Bridge, and several other roads that are considered approaches to the Holland Tunnel, even though they are miles from the facility itself.

That's why New Jersey residents need to take matters into their own hands. If Gov. Christie wont increase the motor fuel tax or raise revenues to dedicate to transportation matters in the state, then voters need to petition to amend the state constitution to raise the needed revenue for dedicated purposes.

By fixing the state's own revenue situation, it can help get the Port Authority to refocus on the bistate projects it was designed to do. It would free up revenues to maintain and expand its facilities, including the Port Authority Bus Terminal, contemplate assisting in the construction of the Gateway Tunnel to double capacity on the Northeast Corridor, and expand PATH to Newark Airport while keeping its infrastructure in a state of good repair.

Currently, New Jersey imposes a 10.5 cent per gallon gasoline tax and 13.5 cent per gallon diesel fuel tax. It's a rate that is unchanged since 1989, and the purchasing power has seriously eroded. Together, they generate about $540 million annually. This amount has actually fallen in recent years because of declining driving and increased fuel economy.

If we assume that drivers will maintain their current amount of driving, a tax increase of $.10 per gallon on each of the gasoline and diesel tax would potentially raise about $500 million annually. It would not only replenish the transportation trust fund, but it would enable the state to fund sorely needed road and rail projects without resorting to deficit funding, fiscal gimmicks, and raiding the Port Authority to do projects.

To this end, voters should consider the following ballot question:

Constitutional amendment to set a state minimum wage with annual cost of living increases.
Do you approve amending the State Constitution to set a state motor fuel tax equal to 20.5 cents per gallon for gasoline and 23.5 cents per gallon for diesel and other motor fuels. The amendment also requires bi-annual increases in that rate if there are annual increases in the cost of living.
Yes
No

The interpretive statement would run something along the lines of:
This amendment to the State Constitution sets the State gasoline and motor fuel taxes at a level sufficient to fund state transportation projects. Half the funds would be dedicated to road, bridge, and tunnel projects across the state, while the other half of the funds would be devoted to supporting mass transit projects, including NJ Transit operations that have the effect of reducing motor vehicle usage, congestion, and pollution statewide. The level of the tax would be adjusted every other year to account for cost of living adjustments.

Residents know that the state's roads, bridges, and tunnels, are a mess, but Gov. Christie refuses to take the necessary actions to improve the structural problems with how the state funds its transportation and infrastructure budgets. Putting the question to voters would go a long way to fixing the problems.

For those concerned that the tax would be an economic hit, one should also count the economic harm done by having a crumbling infrastructure, where roads and bridges can no longer handle modern traffic loads, road damage to vehicles costs drivers hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in damage, and the state can't address its backlog of critical projects that need adequate funding.

The tax increase proposed would still mean that motor fuel purchased in New Jersey is cheaper than those of all the neighboring states by a wide margin. Including federal tax of 18.4 cents, New Jersey regular fuel costs motorists 33 cents a gallon in taxes overall. In Pennsylvania, it’s about 60 cents, and in New York nearly 70 cents, the group says. The 10 cent hike would still mean that New Jersey drivers would pay nearly 30 cents less per gallon than New York and 17 cents less than Pennsylvania.

Gov. Christie's Political Problems Just Grew To GWB Traffic Jam Sized Proportions

After months of denying that he or his staff had anything to do with the George Washington Bridge lane closures that caused massive traffic jams in Fort Lee and caused a public safety mess for the city or that the lane closures were politically motivated, new emails and text messages that were sought by The Record reveal that there were, in fact, political motivations involved.

The messages are replete with references and insults to Fort Lee’s mayor, who had failed to endorse Christie for re-election and they chronicle how they tried to reach Port Authority officials in a vain effort to eliminate the paralyzing gridlock that overwhelmed his town of 35,000 which sits in the shadow of the bridge, the world’s busiest.

The documents obtained by The Record raise serious doubts about months of claims by the Christie administration that the September closures of local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge were part of a traffic study initiated solely by the Port Authority. Instead, they show that one of the governor’s top aides was deeply involved in the decision to choke off the borough’s access to the bridge, and they provide the strongest indication yet that it was part of a politically-motivated vendetta—a notion that Christie has publicly denied.

“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Bridget Anne Kelly, one of three deputies on Christie’s senior staff, wrote to David Wildstein, a top Christie executive at the Port Authority, on Aug. 13, about three weeks before the closures. Wildstein, the official who ordered the closures and who resigned last month amid the escalating scandal, wrote back: “Got it.”

Other top Christie associates mentioned in or copied on the email chain, all after the top New York appointee at the authority ordered the lanes reopened, include David Samson, the chairman of the agency; Bill Stepien, Christie’s re-election campaign manager and the newly appointed state GOP chairman; and Michael Drewniak, Christie’s spokesman.

Christie has previously said that no one in his staff or campaign was involved in the lane closings, and he has dismissed questions about political retribution by joking that he moved the traffic cones himself.

While Gov. Christie's pal David Wildstein has already been sacked and Bob Baroni, who was Christie's top pick at the Port Authority resigned, the emails reveal that the traffic mess was initiated by those in Christie's inner circle.

This shows just how petty that Christie's staffers were in a race that was never going to be all that close.

Not only do the Governor's political appointees at the Port Authority need to be scrutinized for their actions, but the state needs to hold Gov. Christie accountable for this act of partisan hackery that undermined public safety in Fort Lee - all because the mayor wasn't going to endorse the Governor across party lines.

The governor not only needs to apologize to Fort Lee residents, but he needs to clean house of his staffers who went down this path.

I'm sure that local politicians are looking at whether criminal charges could be filed in relation to interfering with public safety by engaging in a political vendetta against the mayor.

It's possibly actionable under the state's Code of Criminal Justice. Various charges could include violating the Execution of Public Duty under 2C:3-3, Crime of corruption of public resources under 2C:27-12, and Obstructing Highways and Other Public Passages under 2C:33-7.

As with the NJ Transit rail fleet flooding debacle, Gov. Christie has let those involved get off easy. That has stop. He has to hold those involved accountable, and he has to take responsibility himself for these actions. Every day that he lets these staffers stay on in Trenton is another day that this scandal grows.

And I'm saying this as someone who voted for Christie. He personally did well in the Sandy aftermath excluding the NJ Transit rail fleet flooding flap, but this action has parallels to the NJ Transit mess. He's let his underlings/staffers get off without so much as a slap on the wrist for engaging in actions that put state assets at risk (in the NJT instance) and lives at risk (in GWB lane closures).

He's got to fire those involved and allow the AG or federal prosecutors to investigate this fully. You can't engage in a political vendetta like this, where lives can be put at risk - and Fort Lee documented how police, fire and EMS were unable to respond quickly due to the traffic jams that blocked most of the city as a result of the lane closures to the bridge.

Cross posted at LGF.

The Birthers New Game

Dave Weigel notes how a new smear campaign launched from the right wing echo chamber has exploded across the usual media dumping grounds like Drudge and Fox News. The reports claim that Newark Mayor Cory Booker doesn't live in Newark. In fact, they go on to claim that he's never lived there and that his neighbors have never seen him around.

It's a rather fanciful tale, but the warning flags about these claims should come up from the byline on down.

For starters, let's look at who's peddling this particular story. It's Joel Gilbert, a director who's best known for putting together birther conspiracy films about how President Obama isn't an American citizen and should not be president. He's now doing the same thing with Cory Booker (another African American politician at that). It's meant to be disruptive, but it doesn't take much to rebuff this kind of transparent smear job that's worthy of James O'Keefe.

Substantively, these claims about Booker not living in Newark can't pass the smell test. Booker's presence in Newark is well documented on social media - especially Twitter. There are hundreds of messages relating to hyperlocal activities of Booker and his neighbors in Newark including helping out neighbors around the corner when the power went out during Hurricane Sandy. In particular, there's this exchange.

https://twitter.com/CoryBooker/statuses/263990447205122048

Local media reports and national media outlets followed the reporting and provided photos and interviews with those who stayed over at Booker's Newark home or came by to recharge phones, etc. It was widely reported. For instance, Huffington Post carried this story as part of the larger context of what people were doing to cope with the storm's effects. Time had a similar report, indicating that 12 of his neighbors crashed at his place, getting food delivered and watching kid-friendly DVDs.

Now, we've got Steve Lonegan aligned right wing media outlets peddling a smear about how Booker isn't a Newark residence. In fact, we've even got political operative Dick Morris pushing this nonsense and going beyond it to claim that he's got a plan to deny Booker a seat in the Senate based on lack of residency.

Politicker indicated that Booker gave his neighbors free reign to use an entire floor, including kitchen and bathroom, complete with photos. That's from November 2, 2012.

An easy Internet search disproves this nonsense, but that's actually besides the point. Lonegan and the right wing are trying to delegitimize candidates in any way, shape, or form. Birther and conspiracy theories all fit into the strategy to undermine their political opponents. It makes it easier to attack their political achievements when claiming that they aren't legitimate either. Putting this out there with less than 24 hours to go before the special election is meant to give Booker little time to counter the smear and take Booker off message.

It all comes at a time when Lonegan's long-shot chance at winning is getting longer. Lonegan's supposed closing rally in the polling is just that - supposed. He hasn't come any closer than double digits in any polls, and a few are indicating that Booker has regained a significant and comfortable lead.

Part of the reason that the spread has grown is that Booker has rightfully called Lonegan and his fellow travelers as the extremists as they are. Lonegan didn't help his cause any when he got Sarah Palin to stump for him. That only burnished his extremist credentials.

Lonegan's attack ads also attempt to throw every conceivable buzz word at Booker, even calling him corrupt. It hasn't worked, but it only shows that Lonegan is a one-trick pony who can gin up interest only by whipping right wingers into a frenzy.

While that can help rally the base, it wont peel off independents who are flocking to Booker and reinforces the fact that Lonegan is a tea party extremist who's comfortable with shutting down government and threatening default in order to extort the kind of defund/delay/destroy Obamacare demands that his fellow travelers in the House and Senate are pushing.

Lonegan is all kinds of wrong for New Jersey, and wrong for the country. Tomorrow's election should seal that fate.

Polls open in New Jersey's special election tomorrow at 6 am through 8pm.

Cross Posted at LGF

Media, Weather Experts Confirm NJ Transit Failed To Heed Flood Warnings

The Star Ledger conducted its own investigation into how NJ Transit managed to flood a third of its rail fleet (more than 300 rail cars and locomotives) by staging them in their Kearny and Hoboken yards.

Despite protestations by NJ Transit chief Jim Weinstein claiming that he didn't have warnings indicating that both locations would flood, The Ledger and other weather experts said that they were absolutely warned of the flood potential and it was hubris or ignorance that led to the flood damage.

It's something I've been saying from the moment we learned that the NJ Transit rail fleet was serious damaged by flooding. We now have still more confirmation that the reason that NJ Transit rail service has been so slow to recover to full service is that they lost so much equipment to flooding that could have been avoided (or at least reduced the chance of damage by moving the equipment to higher ground).

A Star-Ledger examination based on interviews, analysis of scores of forecasts and computer models found that on Oct. 28, the Sunday before the storm hit, only one forecast map showed a 10- to 20-percent chance of the Kearny yard flooding on Monday. Most other guidance was far more dire. Additionally, forecasters say NJ Transit never contacted them for help in interpreting the data, and had they, they would have been told Sunday morning the yard had a high to near certain likelihood of taking on water from the storm surge.

"It’s like going to the doctor and deciphering your own MRI," said I. Ross Dickman, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service’s Upton, N.Y. office, which forecasts for Kearny. "To our knowledge, NJ Transit has never called our office for supplementary information, and that’s unfortunate."

It became a costly decision. NJ Transit said it sustained an estimated $100 million in damages to cars and locomotives during the storm, the majority of which were stationed in Kearny.

While other agencies, like New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, spent days moving equipment to higher ground. NJ Transit relied largely on the flawed forecast tool and past experiences. In recent days, Weinstein has testified before the U.S. Senate and in Trenton that NJ Transit needed 12 to 18 hours to shut down its system and move equipment out of harm’s way.

"We now know, under certain circumstances, that that yard can flood," Weinstein told the Assembly Committee Monday. "The dynamics of the storm changed after we shut down our system. Our common sense is now informed by this event, which none of us have seen in our lifetime."

But Dickman said his office, as early as four days prior to Sandy’s landfall, had forecast a potential storm surge of six to 11 feet. Combined with high tide, it’s more than enough to flood the Kearny yard, where the elevation is only 10 feet. He said the threat was made clear in daily webinars NJ Transit employees attended. He also said the tool NJ Transit used, called the Probabilistic Hurricane Storm Surge tool, is one of scores of forecast equipment his office uses to make a forecast and is guidance, not gospel.

Everyone was warning of serious flood risks due to the combination of astronomical high tide combined with a record-breaking storm surge that was likely to occur due to Sandy's tremendous size and wind fetch.

NJ Transit has been repeatedly telling anyone who will listen that they operated on the best information, but that's clearly not the case. The agency has been lying to the likes of the US Senate and New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg who let the agency off the hook as well as NJ State Legislators who also were far too lenient in their questioning of NJ Transit officials who bothered to show up for the hearings.

Weinstein says that they now know that Kearny and Hoboken could flood, but the flood forecasts were indicating precisely that ahead of Sandy. No effort was made to move equipment. The excuse was that moving it to higher ground could strand the equipment or expose the equipment to wind-driven storm damage. That's a debatable point to a certain extent, but leaving hundreds of cars in a flood zone exposed all that equipment to damage.

Putting equipment on higher ground would have avoided the serious flood damage. Sure, some equipment could have suffered damage due to downed trees or power lines, but that wouldn't affect entire trains (locomotives plus the normal allotment of cars they pull or push). It would have affected individual cars that could be taken out of service for repairs. Wind damage could also be reduced if NJ Transit did a better job of maintaining its right of way to trim trees that could result in downed lines or damage to equipment.

The agency failed on all accounts, and what's worse is that legislative leaders and Gov. Christie appear willing to let the agency and its top officials avoid taking responsibility for the damage.

The fact that the MTA and Port Authority utilized weather forecasters' expertise throughout the leadup to the storm shows just how off-base the NJ Transit actions were. Both of the other agencies were in close contact with the National Weather Service and other forecasters and both prepared to send equipment to higher ground. The MTA didn't lose equipment to the storm the way NJ Transit did, and were therefore able to resume service far quicker despite serious damage to East River Tunnels and other rail infrastructure.

Saying that NJ Transit will be better prepared going forward isn't sufficient. More must be done to hold NJ Transit officials responsible for their incompetence.

Why Corruption Persists

Yesterday, Trenton Mayor Tony Mack and six others were arrested in a corruption bust by federal prosecutors. Today comes word that one of those six was caught on a wiretap describing his actions as "good corruption."

Yes, you read that right.

They didn't think anything of engaging in criminal acts, and considered corruption to be part and parcel of their doing their work.

Joseph “JoJo” Giorgianni called it “good corruption.”

Just two months into Trenton Mayor Tony Mack’s administration, a parking garage development deal emerged in the city. Bribes were offered and accepted. Money changed hands. And the FBI recorded all of the details over a two-year span with the help of two cooperating witnesses, authorities said yesterday.

“One thing about the Mack administration, when I say that, it’s me and Mack, we’re not greedy,” Giorgianni was recorded telling an FBI witness. “We’re corruptible. We want anybody to make a buck.”

Federal authorities arrested Mack, Giorgianni and Mack’s brother Ralphiel Mack yesterday after a corruption probe that has spanned nearly the entire Mack administration. The 31-page criminal complaint charging them with extorting bribes provided extensive detailed conversations regarding $119,000 in cash payments the trio conspired to receive as part of the parking garage deal.

If convicted, Mayor Mack and his brother Ralphiel, who is the Trenton Central High School football coach, face up to 20 years in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said. Giorgianni, who also charged separately with trafficking prescription pills, faces up to 50 years if convicted of all counts.

This is one of the reasons for the pervasive nature of corruption in New Jersey. Everyone that seems to get involved in politics considers it their right to take a swipe at the public till, despite the fact that it's criminal.

Trenton NJ Mayor Tony Mack, 6 Others Arrested In Federal Corruption Probe

Trenton New Jersey Mayor Tony Mack and six others have been arrested in connection with an ongoing federal corruption probe. The Trenton Democrat has been under investigation for the past several months, and the FBI had previously issued search warrants on the mayor's office, personal residence, and several locations of relatives to Mack.

Joseph "JoJo" Giorgianni, a top campaign contributor, and six others were also taken into custody. Specific charges against the suspects are expected to be outlined by Paul Fishman, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, later Monday.

Mack and the others arrested Monday were brought to the FBI office in Hamilton for processing and are scheduled to appear in federal court.

The arrests are the latest development in an ongoing federal investigation into alleged corruption within Mack's administration, which has been marked by accusations of nepotism and reckless spending. In July, FBI agents searched offices in Trenton City Hall a day after raiding the mayor's home. They also searched the home of his brother, Ralpiel Mack, and that of Giorgianni.

Mack's administration has been in turmoil from Day 1, staggering from one crisis to another. A housecleaning of staff at City Hall opened the door for Mack's own appointees, who quickly turned it into a revolving door. Some left over questions about their credentials, others to face criminal charges.

The arrests stem from $119,000 in bribes connected to a parking garage contract.

"The investigation revealed evidence of a conspiracy among the defendants and other to corrupt certain functions of Trenton City government in favor of a purported developer seeking to building a parking garage on City-owned property in exchange for cash payments totaling approximate $119,000, a total of $54,000 that the defendants actually accepted in one way or another and another $65,000 that they anticipated accepting," according to the criminal complaint filed today.

The complaint indicates the FBI had been investigating Mack since September 2010, just a few months after he took office. At least two cooperating witnesses are cited in the complaint and the FBI made extensive use of wire taps on the phones of Mack, Giorgianni and the cooperating witnesses.

The complaint also indicates there's a fourth "co-conspirator" named only as "CC-1" who was a Trenton city employee. That person has not been charged.

Mack was taken into custody at his Berkeley Avenue home in the city around 6:30 a.m., Woodruff said. Further charges in the public corruption are possible against Mayor Mack.

FBI Investigation of Trenton Mayor Mack Continues

Last week, I noted that the FBI was carrying out searches of Trenton Mayor Tony Mack, a Democrat. Those searches included stops at his home, office, and his brother. At the time, the FBI wasn't saying what they were looking for.

Today, they've announced that they're looking into bribery, fraud, extortion and money laundering charges.

Federal authorities also are investigating vendor contracts with the city, during a time frame that stretches nearly to the day Mack took office, the documents show.

The FBI investigation became public last week when agents conducted raids on Mack’s home and City Hall, among others.

Agents last week also searched the Ewing home of Joseph “JoJo” Giorgianni, who donated nearly $5,000 to Mack’s campaign during the run-up to the 2010 election.

Giorgianni is named in the documents as well, with federal authorities searching for records of any correspondence between him and city officials.

Nearly 30 agents searched City Hall on Thursday and left carrying boxes, milk crates, computers and documents. Officials have not said what the authorities found.

The FBI could not be reached for comment last night, and a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment.

Mack is out of town on a vacation and is due back Monday, and a message left on his cell phone last night was not immediately returned. The mayor has not been charged with a crime, and it’s unknown if Mack has hired a lawyer.

City business administrator Sam Hutchinson, who has stepped in as acting mayor in Mack’s absence, could not be reached for comment on the FBI probe last night. “We’re just steering the ship while the captain’s away,” Hutchinson had said earlier yesterday.

The scope of the FBI’s search for evidence is in line with what opponents such as George Dougherty, an attorney representing a former city employee in a whistle-blower lawsuit against Mack, have been alleging since Mack took office.

Mack is currently on vacation for a couple of weeks (he's scheduled to return July 30), and has left the business administrator Sam Hutchinson in charge. Among the issues that critics have had with Mack is that he's replaced a bunch of those business administrators and put his cronies in charge of city operations at a time when the city can ill afford it (as if any city can really afford cronyism).

Trenton's Mayor Under FBI Investigation

Yesterday, reports indicated that the FBI searched the home of Trenton Mayor Tony Mack and two other locations.

Mack has denied any wrongdoing and no once has been charged in the expanding federal probe.

“We have not violated the public trust in any way, nor have I violated any of my public duties, and I have no further comment on this matter,” Mack said in a brief statement, before decline to answer questions to a group of reporters
As the search at City Hall entered its second hour, Trenton Councilwoman Marge Caldwell-Wilson said she was surprised to find the federal agents there this morning.

"I'm just here to make sure our clerk's office and council business is moving forward as best we can," Caldwell-Wilson said. "I was pretty shocked when I heard this morning. And I'm not going to interfere with the investigation. I'm going to let them move on."

Mack’s administration has been plagued with accusations of cronyism and corruption since he took office in July 2010. He has cycled through business administrators and police directors and seen appointees step down when they were charged with crimes, or when their criminal histories or personal financial troubles came to light.

City Councilman George Muschal, a frequent critic of Mack's management of the city, said he was not surprised when he received a text message notifying him that the FBI was raiding City Hall this morning. He only asked one question:

“What took them so long to get there?” Muschal said when reached by phone this afternoon. "There is full blown corruption in the city of Trenton. We have to go to a rock bottom low before we can rebuild. This might be a rock bottom low.”

Among those prosecuted have been Mack’s half-brother, a city water utility employee, as well as a former business administrator and a former chief of staff. A number of employees have sued the administration, including a former recreation employee who alleged that a close Mack associate, acting public works director Harold Hall, acted to bypass public bidding requirements and hired unqualified friends and relatives.

The other two homes belong to Mack's brother Raphael.

Today, the FBI initiated searches of the Mayor's offices at City Hall.

Mack has been under suspicion of engaging in nepotism and reckless spending, but this appears to be something much more serious. Corruption is a huge problem in the state, and it wouldn't be surprising to learn that Mack has engaged in all manner of shoddy practices while in office.

Mack had faced a recall election last year, but survived the recall when it failed to garner sufficient support. That's despite going through eight business administrators, four police directors, many other key employees while the city's finances and fortunes wane. Critics have repeatedly noted that Mack fired the competent and hired the incompetent, replaced the honest with the dishonest. That's why the calls of nepotism and corruption are so strong.

We had to play name that party since the news reports didn't indicate as much, but he's a Democrat.

Gov. Christie Seems Fine With Feds Managing New Jersey's Health Exchanges

So much for states' rights in Gov. Christie's eyes - he's open to the idea of letting the feds run the NJ health exchange.

Gov. Chris Christie said he is exploring letting the federal government set up the state health insurance exchange required by the federal health care overhaul to allow individuals to buy coverage.

He also said he is not sure that New Jersey needs to expand Medicaid under the federal law because the state's program that covers the poor and disabled is already so inclusive.

The Republican governor made the comments while appearing on Fox News Channel's "Fox and Friends" show, one of four national television appearances he was making Tuesday, a day after he told New Jersey lawmakers during a special session that they should cut taxes.

New Jersey legislative Democratic leaders said they had already agreed to a tax cut and accused the governor of trying to win more national attention.

Speaking on "Fox and Friends," Christie told about how he rejected the legislative Democrats' $800 million income tax increase, but he did not mention that it was intended only for people making more than $1 million or that the Legislature also adopted a tax cut plan.

New Jersey may not need to expand its Medicare program as much as some other states (think Louisiana, Florida and Texas for instance) to cover those uninsureds anticipated to be covered under the PPACA. It would be a more gradual and smaller expansion, but it would still bring more people into coverage than the current system.

I think that's Christie's way of finessing around the fact that the PPACA's individual mandate wont affect most NJ residents and that the expanded coverage would help those residents who don't have access to affordable insurance coverage.

As for the over portion of his appearance on Fox, the tax hike would have funded a larger property tax relief package, or funded transportation projects without the need for more bonding. He's mostly upset that he couldn't secure as large a property tax relief package as he wanted, and that legislative Democrats figured out a way to condition the property tax relief on meeting revenue estimates.

Considering that the revenue estimates aren't likely to be reached (they are at an unobtainable 7.2% growth estimate that flies in the face of current national and regional trends), the Democrats actually did the fiscally responsible thing by limiting the program to only when the state could afford it thereby avoiding a potential budget buster.

New Jersey's Legislature Takes Up Tax Relief In Special Session

Gov. Chris Christie addressed the state legislature in Trenton this afternoon and called on them to enact tax relief along the lines of the proposal he first offered earlier this year.

Senate Democrats countered that they provided tax relief to the tune of $183 million only if the state met the Governor's revenue projections. The contingency is a sound policy choice, but that isn't stopping Christie from hammering away at Democrats who are blocking this portion of tax relief.

Gov. Christie was far too aggressive in his budget projections and it's far too likely that New Jersey will not meet Christie's unfathomably high 7.2% growth rate. New Jersey budget projections for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2012 fell short of its projections, and there's no reason to anticipate anything improving in FY 2013.

The conservative move would be to limit spending make conservative revenue projections so that if revenues come in better than anticipated, it grows the rainy day fund that can then be used to pay down structural debt, fund the pension fund, and the transportation trust fund.

Christie has managed to fund the pension funds to the tune of about $1 billion, but that's only beginning to put a dent in the chronically underfunded state pension funds. Much more needs to be done on that front.

At the same time, the state has to address the transportation trust fund so that transportation projects to repair the creaky infrastructure are addressed. The budget ends up using funds from the ARC project that were killed to fill part of the hole, while borrowing takes care of the rest. Additional borrowing only saddles the state with more debt and reduces the amount available for transportation projects in future years as debt service takes up an ever greater percentage of the budget.

New Jersey Bipartisan Budget Idiocy Abounds

NJ politics and you - screwed up together. The OLS issues a budget notice finding that the state will end with a deficit of more than $600 million, and yet Gov. Christie (a Republican) and State Senate President Stephen Sweeney (Democrat) are pushing ahead with a compromise tax cut plan that the two hashed out that will cost even more money and requires one-shot borrowing from the state's nearly empty transportation trust fund to balance the budget).

The compromise plan, along with the plans that both Gov. Christie and legislative Democrats were originally touting, are the height of fiscal irresponsibility.

Everyone in Trenton appears more than willing to disregard the budget deficit and go with the tax cuts because it will mean votes in November. They've thrown fiscal responsibility out the window for a few votes.

That's what this is all about.

Sweeney's trying to convince his caucus to go along with this (even as some members had been pushing for a different kind of property tax relief - still costly, but touted as more focused tax breaks for the middle class than the governor's income tax cuts, which would help the high income earners more).

Where did all the supposed fiscal conservatives in Trenton go? They've disappeared, if they ever existed at all. It was all just so many talking points, rather than a dedicated effort to get the state's fiscal house in order.

In other words, it's just the same old tired routine as it has ever been.

New Jersey taxpayers will be stuck with this mess, even as the state's infrastructure continues falling apart.

Gov. Christie Wont Scale Back Tax Cuts Even As Deficit Mounts

The New Jersey budget is required to be balanced pursuant to the State Constitution. How it gets to that point is up to the Governor and the legislature.

Gov. Chris Christie is determined to make good on his plan to cut income taxes, even though the latest budget projections are showing a much larger deficit than anyone had expected. It's now up to $668 million, which would normally call for a cutback on tax cuts so as to maintain the current level of spending.

Instead, Gov. Christie is looking to use transportation and clean energy funds to cover the shortfall all while maintaining the size and scope of the tax cuts.

That shortfall was announced by the Christie administration during an Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee meeting Wednesday, with the state treasurer acknowledging to lawmakers that the Republican governor’s spending plans must be revised because Christie overestimated the scale of the state’s economic recovery.

The governor’s earlier estimates predicted a state economy that would outpace any other state in the country and be enough for tax cuts and increased spending.

Yet even as Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff politely downplayed the difference between the administration’s revised estimates and a new forecast put forward Wednesday by a non-partisan legislative budget analyst, Christie attacked the analyst personally.

“Why would anybody with a functioning brain believe this guy,” he said during a speech to transportation contractors in Trenton. “How often do you have to be wrong to be dismissed?”

Back at the committee meeting, Christie’s treasurer, however, told lawmakers that change needed to come.

“Although our revenue base is growing, the rate of growth for fiscal 2012 so far has not met the expectations we set, as of either the fiscal 2012 Appropriations Act last June or the governor’s fiscal 2013 budget message in February,” Sidamon-Eristoff said.

Democrats immediately criticized part of the governor’s plans to handle the shortfall.

They said a raid of the transportation fund — which will bring on new borrowing — means taxpayers will now have to pay interest to fund a budget that includes the income tax cut Christie has been touting since January at events from Garfield to California as his name has been floated as a possible running mate for presumptive Republican GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Borrowing against the transportation fund robs it of both current and future funds. It means that the state's interest obligations rise and deprives future years of spending that would have otherwise been possible.

New Jersey can ill afford to cut its transportation budget. With far too many bridges, roads, and other infrastructure that is obsolete or in need of replacement/repair, the transportation budget is far too small as it is. Cutting it further will only put transportation officials even further behind on trying to keep up with current work.

Christie's move might make sense if the budget situation was a neutral to slight deficit, but it is fiscally irresponsible to make such a move when you're talking more than a half a billion dollar shortfall.

As I've been saying for quite some time now, the Governor's budget projections have been overly optimistic and it's running into a brick wall of reality. The state economy hasn't rebounded anywhere near as much as the governor forecast (it hasn't even made it as well as the OLS forecast). A far more conservative forecast would have prevented the state's budget from being that far off - and had the budget situation improved, it would have left the state in the position of having a surplus that could be used to fund pension obligations, a rainy day fund, and to eliminate debt.

Instead, we're seeing Christie falling into the same trap as previous governors - using fiscal gimmicks to balance the budget and raiding state trust funds to cover current year obligations rather than taking the hard steps of balancing revenues with obligations.

Cory Booker and Chris Christie Show Off Their Comedy Chops

Every once in a while it's nice to see politicians not taking themselves too seriously and to have some fun with each other. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker put together this video as part of the NJ Press Association Dinner festivities. There's some sly references to Booker's heroic actions of saving neighbors from a fire and a few Seinfeld references as well.

New Jersey Revenues Coming In $300 Million Below Projections

The New Jersey Department of Treasury announced that revenues were coming in about $300 million below projections, which isn't nearly as bad as the Office of Legislative Services estimates, but it still puts a crimp on Gov. Chris Christie's plans for tax relief.

He’s also banking on a huge economic upswing during the budget year that begins on July 1, using that growth to support his “Jersey Comeback” budget and its signature income tax cut.

But if the current trend holds through the end of June, Christie will have to cut spending, dip into surplus or do something else to meet the state constitution's requirement for a balanced budget. The trend could also make it more difficult for the governor, a Republican, to pitch the first phase of his income tax cut proposal or convince Democrats who control the Legislature to enact some other form of a cut – something many expected to occur on Monday.

Instead, an expected deal between the governor and Senate President Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, was shelved, and Treasury officials delayed a planned release of the revenue information from Monday until this morning.

That new information on New Jersey revenue shows that tax collections fell short of budget projections by a full 5 percent in April, which is typically a make or break month for state finances every year after annual income tax returns are filed.

The poor April performance leaves New Jersey with $19.3 billion in revenue heading into the last two months of the budget year, according to the data released by Treasury. Christie had projected state tax collections of nearly $19.6 billion.

He's going to have to come up with some kind of compromise plan to achieve tax relief and maintaining a level of services that legislative Democrats will go along with. There have been rumblings of a compromise deal that would provide tax relief, but a presser for yesterday was cancelled - presumably over the fact that the Treasury didn't announce its own figures on which the politicians could work from.

I'm not quite sure why the Record indicates that there's a $230 million gap, when the body of the article indicates that there's $19.3 billion in revenue versus projections of nearly $19.6 billion - that's closer to a gap of $300 million than $230 million. Either way, Trenton has to come up with the difference and balance the budget.

UPDATE:
The Department's press release indicates the $230 million shortfall, which the Record parroted, despite the discrepancies with the numbers they used to describe the budget figures.

The figures also show that there is some strength in the state's economy. Sales tax revenues are up somewhat, but the casino revenue is down significantly (probably due to the vastly expanded competition in both New York and Pennsylvania that are siphoning off gamblers).

The tax revenues from corporate banks and financial institutions is also way off the FY 2011 figures.

New Jersey Moving Ahead On Proposals To Revamp Drug Incarcerations

Governor Chris Christie had been calling for a revamping of the state's drug incarceration laws because the criminal justice system simply couldn't afford the costs associated with the incarceration of so many people. He proffered an alternative - drug courts combined with drug treatment in lieu of incarceration and it's something that the state Assembly has taken up.

The Assembly's Judiciary Committee on Monday approved a bill that mandates nonviolent drug offenders receive treatment rather than a jail sentence and creates a two-year pilot program in two counties. The panel also passed a measure that would erase the offenders' criminal records if they successfully complete the treatment program.

Gov. Chris Christie has proposed mandatory drug court statewide for people who qualify. He says it's time to empty prisons of inmates who are drug-dependent but not criminals.

Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, a sponsor of the mandatory treatment legislation, says the governor's program would cost $20 million to implement. But Christie has only budgeted $2.5 million in the coming year.

Coleman says a pilot program also would give authorities a chance to assess the effectiveness of mandatory treatment.

However, the proposal to automatically expunge drug charges from the records of those who complete treatment met with resistance from judiciary officials. They said the courts don't have the capability to carry out the mandate because the records are on paper, not electronic.

Committee Chairman Peter Barnes, though, noted the difficulties that someone with a drug record has in finding a job or housing, even if the charges are more than a decade old.

"In this economy, one small blemish on your record will knock you out of the box," he said. "People make mistakes early on; we're trying to give people a break."

The State Senate has yet to introduce a companion bill, but these are important steps. If the state wants to get the costs for the criminal justice system under control, it has to rationalize the way it handles many of the crimes and sentencing guidelines.

Separately, steps need to be taken to address recidivism among inmates. 60% of those who have been incarcerated end up back in the prison system in New Jersey.

New Jersey Budget Projects Will Hamper Gov. Christie's Chances To Keep Promised Tax Cuts

As I've been warning for quite some time, budget projections have been far too rosy and assuming growth when one should take a far more conservative outlook on the figures.

By assuming growth in excess of what one should reasonably expect, you set up the potential for budget deficits and that's precisely the situation that Gov. Chris Christie is facing in New Jersey. He offered up a more rosy outlook than the state's Office of Legislative Services (OLS), and with the new projection likely coming in even lower than the OLS projections from earlier this year, the budget talks for the upcoming fiscal year are going to focus on just how much money is available for property tax relief - whether in the form of a tax credit or other relief.

Back in March, the OLS had projected that the revenues would be $537 million less than what Gov. Christie had expected. The new figures are going to be announced this week, and it is likely to spur a cut in what kind of tax relief can be offered because revenues simply aren't coming in at levels necessary to fund the property tax relief.

Once again, the state's legislative leaders and governor are playing games with the budget situation and offering up solutions that require revenues that aren't sustainable. They are making promises that they can't or shouldn't be able to keep. Each time they do, it puts the state on an unsustainable level of services; one that would require significant tax hikes or cuts in services to maintain the existing infrastructure.

Model Legislation

Some of New Jersey's recent legislation enacted by Gov. Christie tracks model legislation written up by the conservative group ALEC. The response to the article was that the NJ legislators and Christie's office denied any use of the model language, but I find that farfetched. It's far more than coincidental that the language tracks so closely.

The New Jersey example is hardly alone though. I wouldn't be surprised if quite a bit of legislation nationally is the result of lobbyist groups and other groups pushing model legislation.

Many of the lobby groups, like the NRA, produce model language for inclusion in state laws - both as part of their policy prescriptions, and to make it easier to get them enacted consistently nationally.

We've seen that stand your ground (SYG) has the NRA backing it.

Various entities have pushed model language on everything from streamlined sales tax (the SSTP), the Multistate Tax Commission and its model language for taxability issues, Uniform Commercial Code and Uniform entity laws (partnerships, etc.), or even uniform abandoned property laws.

Some of these model law efforts make sense - particularly when the idea is to make a difficult issue uniform - take tax collection across multiple jurisdictions.

However, some of model language smacks of laziness - a state had not considered treatment of a given subject to be important enough or had different treatment until a model language is proffered. It takes the legislative agenda out of the hands of those who are supposed to be writing the laws.

Now Is Time For New Jersey To Purchase Properties Along Route 17 Corridor

Route 17 through Bergen County is one of the busiest corridors in the state, and traffic congestion is a constant companion to drivers on the stretch between Route 4 in Paramus at the Garden State Plaza and Essex Street in Hackensack. While the rest of Route 17 is a three lane divided highway with paved shoulders leading to businesses, this particular stretch is only two lanes wide, and in some places there aren't shoulders.

Thus, when there are accidents in the area, it can cause massive backups and delays.

View Larger Map

Plans to expand the highway to three lanes in each direction, along with building modern highway overpasses have been floated in the past, but the time is ripe to go ahead with the project now.

Several businesses along the stretch have gone out of business recently, and for sale/lease signs are posted. That would make purchase by the state or localities for the purpose of expanding the highway easier - and less costly.

After all, one of the most expensive portions of the project isn't construction - it's the acquisition costs of property along the highway right of way.

Yet, the mayor of Rochelle Park is opposed to the $200 million proposal. He argues that the expansion would adversely affect traffic in town. That makes little sense, particularly because traffic congestion increases pollution from vehicles sitting in traffic each time the traffic slows down (an all too common occurrence.

In particular, the town claims it would lose $1 million in ratable properties annually as a result of the expansion. That seems particularly far-fetched considering that the properties along the right of way are in several cases marginal properties to begin with and have had difficulty in securing leases. Traffic congestion reduces the chances that people can utilize those same businesses and while several homes would need to be obtained through eminent domain, the benefit to the town as a result of eliminating the traffic bottleneck would mean that drivers on side streets would see improved flow because drivers wouldn't need to seek alternative routes to avoid congestion on Route 17.

Some of the same businesses that sought to block the project have themselves gone out of business or relocated due to the poor economic environment.

New Jersey Should Finally Pass Fluoride Bill

New Jersey has long lagged the rest of the region in municipalities that fluoridate the water supplies. Misinformation is one of the reasons - the fact that junk science is driving the opposition is costing New Jersey residents' public health.

The costs for fluoridation are a fraction of the dental health costs. It's far cheaper to fluoridate the water than to deal with the costs of cavities and poor dental health.

The Legislature is considering a new bill, and the usual suspects are lined up against it - citing costs and claims that fluoridation can lead to other diseases.

In New Jersey, water providers typically serve several towns, meaning that all must agree to fluoridate their water — and typically they do not.

Opponents and supporters of the fluoride legislation believe it has a higher chance of passing this year, in part because it has bipartisan sponsorship. Gov. Chris Christie has not said whether he would sign the bill if it passed.

The state’s League of Municipalities has opposed the bill, concerned about the cost of what it calls an unfunded mandate. The New Jersey Utilities Association testified against it, arguing that it “is known to have adverse health effects in certain quantities” and that it would cost water companies anywhere from $400,000 to $64 million.

“We think the cost benefit is not there,” said Karen Alexander, the president of the association.

Many opponents say their information has come online, from national groups like the Fluoride Action Network and Citizens for Safe Drinking Water, which argue that fluoridation would cost $5 billion statewide. On their Web sites, the groups argue that fluoridation would lead to fluorosis, a rare staining of the teeth. They say fluoride has many adverse health effects, including bone cancer, and no proven benefit.

But public health officials say that the National Academy of Sciences examined the studies linking fluoride to lowered I.Q. and could not substantiate them. Similarly, two large and recent studies, one from Harvard and the National Cancer Institute, the other in California, found no link between fluoride and bone cancer. Fluorosis in the United States, they say, tends to be barely visible.

While some communities have stopped fluoridation nationally - it was because of costs, not because the science didn't support fluoridation.