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SCI

One Two Punch - Christie Subverts Labor, Divided Government At Same Time

by: KendalJames

Tue Mar 01, 2011 at 07:04:57 PM EST

Ira Mintz was first hired to work at NJ's Public Employee Relations Council in 1985, under a Republican administration. Put simply, PERC's role is to mediate the negotiation process between labor and management, allowing agreements to be reached through a reliable process. PERC is designed to oversee that process neutrally and independently, like a referee in a football game; as an agency, their reputation is excellent, and has been since the body's formation in 1968.

Today's Star Ledger reports on Mintz's January termination, the first ever of its kind in state history. Because while the administration dismissed the firing as the kind of standard deck-shuffling that comes with new state leadership, nothing could be further form the truth.

"I think that my termination is directly related to my work on collective bargaining for public employees in New Jersey," Mintz told Blue Jersey. "The administration didn't like the neutral and independent results in recent PERC decisions." Specifically, Mintz and some of his colleagues believe that the firing came as a result of a decision made by PERC last year; the Council opposed Christie's attempt to void an agreement, made by Corzine administration, in which employees would work on Lincoln's birthday in exchange for no work the day after Thanksgiving. For whatever reason, the governor opposed this.

In other words, Mintz's firing was retaliation for ....

contiune reading below

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A budget deal is reached

by: Jason Springer

Mon Jun 21, 2010 at 10:24:12 PM EDT

We get news tonight that a deal has been reached between the Governor and Legislative Leaders on a $29.4 billion budget:

The budget deal makes about $180.7 million in changes to Christie's budget proposal while keeping in place most of the biggest cuts, such as $848 million from property tax rebates and an $820 million reduction in aid to school districts.

The deal apparently does not include restoration of $7.5 million in cuts from Christie that would support 58 family planning clinics. Supposedly, there will be separate legislation forthcoming for that, but Senator Weinberg informs us that the Governor plans to veto that supplemental appropriation. Here's a summary of some of the restorations that Democrats were able to get:

•Blue laws - $64,000,000
•Urban Enterprise Zones - $48,000,000
•General assistance - $21,995,000
•Supplemental security income, Personal needs allowance for community-based developmental disabilities clients - $10,282,000
•Personal assistance home care - $9,669,000
•Garrett W. Hagedorn Gero-Psychiatric Hospital - $6,370,000
•New Jersey cultural trust - includes Trenton Barracks museum, Battleship N.J. and Newark Museum - $4,000,000
•State Commission of Investigation - $3,539,000
•NJ After 3 - $3,000,000
•Sheltered workshops for people with disabilities - $3,000,000
•Adult medical day care - $2,379,000
•Center for Hispanic Policy - $1,400,000
•Educational Opportunity Fund - $1,300,000
•NJ STARS Scholarships for tuition - $1,000,000
•Respite care - $800,000
•Education services for blind children - $20,000

It's good to see the funding for the SCI restored, lets just hope the Governor doesn't line item veto it. They are still going to need 4 Democrats in the Senate and 8 in the Assembly to pass this budget, so while a deal has been reached, we will see where the votes come from.

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Are Republican Legislators finally ready to stand up for Good Government?

by: Jason Springer

Fri Jun 18, 2010 at 06:11:09 PM EDT

We've written a good deal here about Governor Christie's attempted power grab to eliminate the independent State Commission of Investigation (SCI) and move its responsibilities into the executive branch. Up until now, many Republicans have remained silent, but quietly yesterday we saw A2986 introduced:

The bill's text isn't available yet, but the sponsors are Assemblymen DeCroce and Bramnick. The original idea put forth by the Governor was to consolidate the Medicaid Inspector, Inspector General and SCI under the Office of the Comptroller in the executive branch. As you can see, the SCI isn't included in their bill. The Governor could still defund the SCI in his budget through a line item veto. That would force the Legislature to override his veto in order to maintain the state's most successful corruption fighting agency. Hopefully this bill is an indication that the Republican legislators have finally decided to put the people's interest above their Governor's endless appetite for power.

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Will the GOP stand up to protect the SCI or be complicit in its eliminiation?

by: Jason Springer

Thu Jun 17, 2010 at 03:51:58 PM EDT

We're coming down to the deadline in the budget negotiations and the fate of the SCI appears to remain in the balance:

Now, however, the SCI is in peril again. To merge the investigative agencies, Gov. Christie would need legislative approval, which he is unlikely to get.
But he could defund the SCI, and if the Legislature tried to restore its budget, he could cast a line-item veto that would require a two-thirds majority in both the Senate and Assembly to override.
That means some Republicans in each house would have to brave their governor's wrath and join Democrats in the override vote.

My understanding is that the Democrats submitted for full restoration of the SCI as a budget resolution, so now it's part of negotiations. If the negotiations fail and the funding isn't restored, the story reminds us that the Legislature still holds the power to override the Governor, but Republicans will need to come on board. This is just the latest attempt to neuter the SCI as Republicans tried the effort during the Whitman administration. We've written plenty here about the excellent work done by the SCI. The benefits far outweigh any costs to the state and it's time GOP Legislatures stand up to this power grab by their Governor. If they don't, they can stop complaining about corruption and waste in government, because they're complicit in allowing it to continue.

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Our Democratic Leaders are Killing SCI and NJN

by: princetonblue

Tue Jun 15, 2010 at 05:03:38 PM EDT

Make no mistake about it. By abdicating their responsibility as the majority party to form the budget and resigning themselves to CC's budget without a fight, New Jersey Democratic leadership has full responsibility for the death of these two fine organizations.

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Quote of the Day: Any Republican who sides with Christie on this should be removed from office

by: Jason Springer

Mon Jun 07, 2010 at 04:25:30 PM EDT

Bob Ingle gets quote of the day with this one talking about what should happen to people who go along with Governor Christie's attempted power grab with the State Commission of Investigation:

Any Republican who sides with Christie on this should be removed from office in the next election and should shut up about corruption because they're not sincere.

Amen. Not much left to say about that one.

Discuss :: (1 Comments)

Just how successful has the SCI been?

by: Jason Springer

Mon Jun 07, 2010 at 10:59:45 AM EDT

We've written a good deal here about the power grab being attempted by Governor Christie to gut the independent State Commission of Investigation and move it into the Executive Branch under the Office of the Comptroller. Take a look at a sampling of the success the SCI has had rooting out waste and corruption:

• $39 million in wasteful and excessive cash benefit payouts to local government employees revealed by the SCI in December 2009
• $22 million in tax revenue recovered annually as a result of an SCI probe of organized crime manipulation of the motor-fuel industry
• $17 million in savings based on an SCI investigation of ineligible state health benefits
• $6 million in savings from an SCI investigation of pension-padding by public school administrators
• $3.5 million in savings through an SCI investigation of excessive cash benefits for unused sick leave by top school officials

The SCI pays for itself many times over each year. In over 40 years, the SCI has completed more than 120 investigations and we're not talking about shoplifting:

organized crime; corruption; waste, fraud and abuse; and regulatory, ethics and law enforcement oversight. Given this agency's unique construct, it is particularly well-positioned to pursue sensitive, politically charged or otherwise controversial investigations dealing with government corruption, ethics, "pay-to-play" issues, contract lobbying and the like.

I'll put a sampling of the investigations below the fold. This power grab needs to be stopped. As Vincent noted in the roundup, Assemblywoman Allison Litell McHose has now joined the effort saying she will oppose the power grab. More Republicans and Democrats need to speak up as well.

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Paying Its Own Way

by: Barbara Buono

Fri Jun 04, 2010 at 05:09:24 PM EDT

Promoted by Jason Springer: Good to see Senator Buono continue to push this issue. We've written plenty about the importance of maintaining an independent SCI.

The foundation of any good democracy is a healthy system of checks and balances.

In 1968, members from both sides of the legislature came together to create what would become one of the soundest investments of taxpayer dollars and resources that this state has ever seen. The State Commission of Investigation (SCI) was designed as an independent fact-finding agency charged with investigating organized crime and rooting out corruption, waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayers' dollars.

For over four decades now, the SCI has consistently lived up to its mission, providing a healthy system of checks and balances that has saved taxpayers more money than it has spent.

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Analysis: The Imperial Governor

by: vincent solomeno

Fri Jun 04, 2010 at 11:30:00 AM EDT

The debate continued in Trenton yesterday over Governor Chris Christie's proposal to slash the State Commission of Investigation's (SCI) budget and place it under the administrative control of the Office of the Comptroller. Chairing a hearing of the upper chamber's Legislative Oversight Committee, State Senator Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) said the Governor had "chutzpah" to even dream up such an idea and reiterated her commitment to stopping the merger. "I am not going to compromise on SCI," she said. "The public cannot lose its watchdog."

As Jason Springer has written about at length, the SCI was established in 1968 as an agency independent of executive branch interference. Since its establishment, the nonpartisan commission has taken on the mafia, spendthrift governing bodies, and most recently, the gross overcompensation of local appointed officials. And while political oddsmakers are calling the proposal dead on arrival, its introduction by the Christie Administration is a disturbing development in the centuries old tug of war between the executive and legislative branches of government.

At the core of the debate over SCI's future is the principle of separation of powers. In his 1973 book, The Imperial Presidency, former Kennedy aide Arthur Schlesinger noted that the "greatest importance of the separation of powers lies precisely in the old theory of the Founding Fathers: to preclude the exercise of arbitrary power. The separation of powers provides the vital mechanism of self-correction in the American system. It is the means of protection against the resurgence of the imperial Presidency. It is the ultimate safeguard of accountability."

One would be remiss not to point out that Schlesinger's concept of the Imperial Presidency was influenced by the New Deal, the escalation of the Vietnam War, and, even in those pre-Watergate days, President Nixon's abuse of power. Chris Christie is no Richard Nixon, but his actions indicate he has no trouble with the concept of an Imperial Governorship. Legislators - and the public at large - would be wise to guard against the erosion of separation of powers here in New Jersey. What the Christie Administration believes are efforts to streamline a bloated bureaucracy unfortunately expand the powers of the Governor's Front Office at the expense of the Legislature. And while merging the SCI with the executive branch Office of the Comptroller poses no immediate threat to our state's system of constitutional government, like a snow ball, this gradual encroachment upon the Legislature's prerogatives can ultimately threaten the checks and balances that provide the "safeguard of accountability" Schlesinger referred to.

It's good news that the Democratic majority is standing up to Governor Christie's plan to marginalize the SCI. While the Governor has the option of using the line-item veto to eliminate funding for the SCI in next year's budget, he should reconsider. For this is not a partisan issue. With an economy in shambles, a budget in crisis, and public confidence in state government the lowest it's been in living memory, the last thing we need is an Imperial Governor.

Discuss :: (5 Comments)

Why aren't Republicans up in arms over Christie's effort to kill the SCI?

by: Jason Springer

Wed Jun 02, 2010 at 10:00:00 AM EDT

The silence is deafening. For all their talk about wanting to fight corruption, Governor Christie proposes to get rid of the independent arm charged with doing just that, and the NJ GOP collectively loses their voice. It's not that they can't talk, because Jay Webber is putting out press releases about Mother Teresa. They're just not saying anything about their Governor's plan to get rid of the State Commission of Investigation.

In 1968, the State Commission of Investigation was created as an independent fact-finding agency whose mission is to expose organized crime, public corruption and waste and to recommend reforms in the service of the citizens of New Jersey. It's actually the state's oldest, most independent and most successful government watchdog agency. But despite the success of the SCI rooting out fraud and corruption, Governor Christie is proposing to slash the commission's budget from $4.5 million to $1 million and reduce its staff from 53 to 10. Instead of being an independent arm inside the Legislative branch, the SCI would fold into the Executive branch under the Office of Comptroller, who serves at the Governor's pleasure. They are calling it consolidation, but it's really an elimination. The Philadelphia Inquirer took a shot at their own industry in defending the SCI and opposing Christie's plan:

"The state can't afford to end the SCI's long history of exposing corruption and misrule. Some of the SCI's recent reports examined street gangs in state prisons, wasteful purchasing of fire trucks and voting machines, and abusive municipal employee leave and benefits. These investigations often have the potential to pay for themselves; the latter report identified millions of dollars of waste in Camden alone. And the dramatic shrinkage of the state's press corps in recent years makes the Commission's work even more valuable."

For over 40 years, the SCI has saved this state millions of dollars and the Governor is going to end it over $3.5 million? That's pocket change in the grand scheme of things and no one says the SCI doesn't work, in fact it's just the opposite. So maybe it's not the price tag that's the problem, but the independence. By moving it into the executive, the Governor's office could be kept informed and provide direction for investigations. The SCI was created to avoid just that situation:

The framers of the SCI's enabling statute in 1968 felt it was vital for this expert independent agency to function at arm's length from the routine partisan and bureaucratic fray of state government.
To eliminate even the appearance of political influence in the SCI's operations, no more than two of the Commission's four members may be of the same political party. They derive from three separate appointing authorities (the Governor, Senate President and Assembly Speaker), and serve staggered four-year terms. Further, members and staff of the SCI are prohibited from participating in non-federal political activity in New Jersey.
The significant fact that the SCI is funded through the Legislature and is not tethered to the Executive branch is central to the construct that provides the SCI with the integrity and the independent stature necessary to perform its job in a credible fashion. In addition, the Commission also makes recommendations for systemic regulatory reforms.

Here in New Jersey we spend $80 billion on state, county and local government. The state budget is $28 billion. And the money for an independent commission with proven results to oversee all this government? A measly $4.5 million not even .01% of the state budget. And though it's FUNDED by the state budget, it OVERSEES all parts of the government.

In 40 yrs., the SCI has completed 100+ investigations that found waste of tax dollars, exposed corruption, organized crime & gangs.

Stories condemning Christie's cynical power grab have run in the Asbury Park Press, Bergen Record, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the AC Press and the Courier Post. Legislative Democrats have voiced their opposition to the plan, but their Republican colleagues have remained silent and you have to ask yourself why? Aren't both sides of the aisle located under the Dome?

This is a bad proposal by the Governor and both parties in the Legislature need to stop it from moving past the planning stages.

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Organized Crime exploiting NJ prison gaps to set up strongholds

by: Jason Springer

Wed Nov 19, 2008 at 10:25:03 AM EST

The State Commission on Investigation has been looking into the NJ Department of Corrections and what they have found is disturbing:

"Organized crime, as we know it here in the 21st century, has established a series of operational outposts - if not outright strongholds - within the very walls of our state prisons," said W. Cary Edwards, chairman of the State Commission of Investigation and a former New Jersey attorney general.

That statement was made at a hearing and this is what the SCI said in their press release announcing the testimony:

The hearing is part of a wide-ranging and unprecedented investigation under way by the SCI into the growth, proliferation and increasing sophistication of organized criminal gangs in New Jersey. The investigation is statewide in scope. Ultimately, the Commission intends to issue a comprehensive public report incorporating recommendations for legislative and administrative reforms.

We're talking about Fire trucks

by: Jason Springer

Tue Sep 16, 2008 at 03:06:18 PM EDT

The State Commission of Investigation (SCI) is reporting on more government inefficiency, this time involving the purchasing of fire trucks:

A commission report out Tuesday finds a lack of "proper accountability and transparency" in the process.
The SCI says one of the biggest problems local officials often use design specifications passed on directly from their dealers' sales personnel.
Such a move ensures that only a specific manufacturer will be best able to meet the specifications, hindering any real bidding process for fire truck contracts.

This is what they say about the current process:

"In many instances, the competitive procurement process required by law has been reduced to a sham in which the public's business is ruled by private interests,"

Here's what they recommend:

The commission calls for direct state involvement in fire truck purchases and truck design specifications that are written by the state, not manufacturers.

I think there has to be a better way to do things, but I'm really not sure what the best solution is. You have towns with varied needs and a single set of standards may not be the answer either. Here is a copy of the SCI report.

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SCI wants records, but bureau says they have no right

by: Jason Springer

Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 11:03:19 PM EDT

Another day, another request for records:

New Jersey's State Commission of Investigation is seeking pay records, meeting minutes and internal documents from the state's Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau, a secretive insurance-funded agency that helps set rates for the $1.8 billion workers compensation insurance system.
So far, the bureau has refused to turn over the material.

This one has a twist because wait until you see why they haven't turned over the material:

Czech said he has resisted the SCI's request for information on the grounds the bureau is not funded by state money.
"My response to the Commission was that the Bureau is not a state agency, we have no state employees and we are not paid by the state," Czech said. "There are absolutely no state or public monies involved in funding the Bureau; we are funded by assessments paid by insurer members of the Bureau."

I don't know nearly enough about their funding, but let's see why he might not be willing to share the information:

Last year, insurers collected $1.8 billion in workers comp premiums, while paying out about $1.2 billion in benefits. A surcharge on the premiums pays for the Compensation Bureau's operations.
In May the Star-Ledger reported that a six-member board comprised executives from the insurance companies that sell workers compensation policies has routinely granted Grover Czech, the Bureau's executive director, generous annual raises and bonuses of up to $21,000.
Pay for Czech's top deputy, Fred Huber, jumped from $105,000 to $145,000 between 2002 and 2006, while pay for the rest of CRIB's executive staff grew by 27 percent over those four years.
Meanwhile, the Bureau recommended six straight increases in workers compensation premiums, raising the total paid to the insurance companies by more than $600 million a year.

I guess we'll have to wait and see if a subpoena follows the request and if Czech is indeed right, that SCI has no right to these records. The Governor has legislation on his desk awaiting signature to expand the board and include new members that aren't from the insurance industry. If Czech's response is any indication, more may still need to be done.

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