Special Session Day 1

by: Jason Springer

Thu Jul 01, 2010 at 09:18:53 PM EDT

There was a good deal of activity in Trenton today as the Governor called the Legislature in for a special session. At the beginning of the day, Governor Christie was demanding a 2.5% constitutional cap and the Senate wanted him to address them separately. By the end of the day, the Senate showed up for the Governor's speech and Christie was ready to go along with a statutory cap with less exemptions than Democrats proposed, rather than the constitutional cap. You can see 6 ABC's report on the day:

So as the day ended, the question was what's next? Sweeney said that the Senate and Assembly will hold budget hearings tomorrow, but he would not call the full body into session:

"We're going to work very hard through the summer - through the summer, all through the summer. We're looking at every Thursday being in, bringing experts in, talking about real policy issues and how we can make New Jersey better," Sweeney said.
"We fulfilled our requirement constitutionally by being here, and he addressed us. The budget committee will be here tomorrow. If he wants, I'll be here Saturday, Sunday. I don't have a life. Honestly, I'll hang out with him in Trenton if he wants. But we're not calling our full Senate in over the weekend," Sweeney said.

In fact, Sweeney tried to one up the Governor saying they could have a cap even lower than 2.5%. But that wasn't near enough and left the Governor threatening to sue:

"We believe the governor's constitutional authority means when he calls a session of the Legislature, that means the full Legislature. And he can do that as many days as he sees fit," Drewniak said.
"We would hate at this stage, given that we recognize the importance of the spirit of cooperation, to have to bring this to the attention of the attorney general and sue the Legislature to get them to meet their obligation," Drewniak said.

You can read the full text of the Governor's address here and see the speech here. I still don't think the cap is the answer. It's like putting a band aid on top of an infection, you still need to treat the cause of the problem in the first place. They are just passing responsibility for the tough decisions onto local officials and providing themselves cover so they don't get the blame.

Jason Springer :: Special Session Day 1

Tags: Special Session, cap 2.5, property tax cap, property taxes, Chris Christie, Steve Sweeney, (All Tags)

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Special Session Day 1 | 4 comments

Booker with tread marks (0.00 / 0)

Is Cory Booker now going to stand with the Governor and tell us how important it is for the State to enact a statutory cap?

I bet the mayor feels used and abused tonight!

by: firstamend07 @ Fri Jul 02, 2010 at 01:57:16 AM UTC

by: you @ soon

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Give it a rest already (0.00 / 0)

I don't like Booker either. But, enough. Neither Booker nor your boss are going to get the nomination in '13.

by: 12mileseastofTrenton @ Fri Jul 02, 2010 at 11:03:27 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Sue (0.00 / 0)

As I understand it, the Legislature could just meet and vote to adjourn for the day if they wanted. Christie doesn't have the constitutional authority to tell them what is a quorum and what they have to vote on. Let him take it to court. I'm sure the Supreme Court will be very sympathetic to him after the Wallace affair.

by: 12mileseastofTrenton @ Fri Jul 02, 2010 at 11:02:11 AM UTC

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Committee work (0.00 / 0)

Christie and everyone else knows that 90% of all the work is done in committee. There is no need for everyone to show up each day.

Christie is just acting immature after he had to "blink" yesterday.

The Senate will meet all summer and work as will the Assembly.

Christie made a request ,the request was met, he should keep out of it now.

Hey gov, go have a beer and start up the barbecue, lighten up,things will get done.

It Is time for the mature adults to take over.

by: firstamend07 @ Fri Jul 02, 2010 at 13:56:50 PM UTC