Assembly Speaker Oliver Please Show More Oomph

by: Bill Orr

Sun Oct 03, 2010 at 11:00:00 AM EDT

"We laid out a timeframe quite some time ago that would allow us to take a thoughtful and deliberative approach. We have been working diligently to advance thorough and substantive reforms that will have a real impact on helping local governments meet the new two-percent cap and make a real difference in people's lives... We have already considered a number of bills and we approved two property tax reforms today."

On September 12 after the summer recess, several Assembly panels met to discuss how the recently enacted state budget is affecting residents and businesses. At the conclusion of the meetings you released the following statement, "This budget will have many deep impacts on the lives of New Jerseyans, and we plan to monitor it closely to see what might be done to ease the pain." "Monitoring closely" is OK, but not much oomph there.

In February after marriage equality was voted down in the Senate, you spoke at a rally in Montclair about three key priorities: Don't Ask, Don't Tell, ENDA, and school bullying. The first two matters you have little control over, but you evinced strong passion over the harm of bullying and the need for legislation.  I understand that work on the bill is underway and that Assemblywomen Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen) and Mary Pat Angelini (R-Monmouth) plan to introduce such a bill shortly. In your speech in Montclair you displayed some oomph.  It is time for more.