A New Era in Trenton

by: Barbara Buono

Fri Jan 15, 2010 at 10:03:11 AM EST

On Tuesday, I was honored to be sworn in as the first woman to serve as Senate Majority Leader in New Jersey and I didn't want the week to end without posting here on Blue Jersey.

This is a time to look to the future, as New Jersey is clearly poised for a transformation. Along with our new Senate President Stephen Sweeney, President Pro Tempore, Nia Gill, our new Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and Assembly Majority Leader Joe Cryan, the Democratic leadership certainly has a lot of new faces in both houses of the legislature. And with a new governor ready to be inaugurated next week, I will be relying on the progressive netroots community now more than ever - for your passion, guidance and ideas.

Like many of you, I am a progressive.  I am proud of my vote for Marriage Equality - yet disappointed by the outcome. I also believe that being a progressive means being fiscally responsible, it means demanding more transparency and accountability from government and it means acknowledging the need for change in Trenton.  Governor-elect Christie is obviously going to offer a sharp contrast in his policy agenda from Governor Corzine's four years in office. But this does not mean we cannot work together to find common ground to move New Jersey forward.

One of my top priorities as Senate Majority Leader will be to make significant strides toward establishing a more open, honest and responsive state government. That is the kind of change and reform that enhances the quality of life for all New Jerseyans, not just for someone's narrow parochial self-interest. I look forward to ushering in a new era of unquestioned government integrity. And I am extremely confident this is a direction that Governor-elect Christie can support.

While there are many important issues where New Jersey's Republicans and Democrats disagree, there can also be many areas of practical agreement. In order to succeed, we must look to one another and be willing to rise above our own partisan interests. This is how we can best begin restoring a vision for New Jersey's future. And this is how we can make sure our children can afford to remain here and raise families of their own one day.

I battled to create the Office of State Comptroller and will continue the fight to give the office new tools and oversight ability.  The Comptroller needs broader authority to weed out every case of waste, fraud and abuse. Unfortunately, the original legislation signed by Governor Corzine was watered down - constraining the office's scope and abilities. This is unacceptable. It is imperative for the Comptroller to be able to audit government at all levels and to investigate any government contract or expenditure of tax dollars.  Matthew Boxer, our current Comptroller, has done the best he can with the tools he was given - now imagine what he could have accomplished if his office had real teeth. I hope we can adopt bipartisan reforms to give the Comptroller enhanced powers.

For Democrats there will be an adjustment period.  But we must be confident enough in our beliefs to reach across the aisle to our new Governor so New Jersey can continue to move forward as the decade unfolds.

Every one of us has a core set of values that shapes our vision for the future. My hope is that the 214th Legislature will have the courage and temerity to finally pass many of the far-reaching reforms recommended by, what was heralded at the time, as an unprecedented Legislative Special Session on Property Taxes. It is our job to make major repairs to New Jersey's broken property tax system. And we have only to look to those recommendations for a blue print.  

I am confident we can work with Governor-elect Christie. However, this does not mean abandoning principles and policy positions we hold near and dear to our hearts.  As Majority Leader I pledge to be your advocate in the State Senate. We will continue to advance progressive legislation and we will collaborate with our Republican counterparts on issues we where can find common-ground. I hope I can count on your help to make this a reality.  

Governor Mario Cuomo once said we must persuade people they have a "reason to believe." Yes, we must give people a reason to believe that government can be reinvented - so every one of us has the opportunity to achieve our full potential and live a good life right here at home...in New Jersey.