Budget - NY Times - Corzine shifts to collegiality amidst resistance to sales tax increase

*
Published in the New York Times, Monday, June 12, 2006

June 12, 2006

Corzine Shifts to Collegiality on the Budget

By RICHARD G. JONES and DAVID W. CHEN

TRENTON, June 9 — When he took office in January, Gov. Jon S. Corzine distinguished himself from most of his predecessors by avoiding the public eye and consulting largely with a small circle of friends, most of whom, like him, had few ties to Trenton.

Almost immediately, legislative leaders complained that they were not being brought into discussions on matters like preparation of the budget, and they questioned whether Mr. Corzine's largely autonomous leadership style as a Wall Street investment banker would ever catch on in Trenton.

But now, with the Legislature poised to engage more fully in considering the governor's $30.9 billion budget, State House veterans have noticed a significant shift: Mr. Corzine has begun courting the very lawmakers who had felt ignored just a few months ago.

"It hasn't been without its bumps," Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr., a Democrat from Camden County, said in a recent interview, "but I think people like him, they trust him and they respect him, and that's a good place to start."

On Wednesday, Mr. Corzine began a series of closed-door meetings with his Democratic colleagues, some of whom have differed with him on such important elements of his budget proposal as raising the sales tax to 7 percent from 6 percent and cutting about $169 million in aid for higher education.

Those disagreements have not always been aired discreetly. Some lawmakers have taken turns criticizing Mr. Corzine's budget plan, rolling out their own counterproposals in press releases and news conferences over the past several weeks.

In addition, some Democrats, particularly those from urban districts, were bitterly disappointed when Mr. Corzine sought — and obtained — State Supreme Court approval for freezing $160 million in financing for the neediest school districts because of budgetary constraints.

Political analysts said Mr. Corzine's latest attempts to reach out to lawmakers might be meant to deflect budget dissent in his own party as much as a recognition that the style that succeeded on Wall Street might not win friends in Trenton.

"Early on, there was some grumbling by Democrats that they had not been as fully consulted as they might have wished, that here was this autonomous figure who was coming in and telling them how things were going to be," said Brigid Harrison, a political scientist at Montclair State University. "In more recent times, it seems that he recognizes that he has to work with the Legislature. I think we see more of a conciliatory relationship."

Insiders have also noticed a change.

"He's feeling his way," Mr. Roberts said. "This is a completely different environment for him, a whole new cast of characters. He's a very bright guy, he's determined to make a difference, and I think people want him to succeed and are reaching out to him in a good way."

For his part, Mr. Corzine has played down his recent efforts. At a housing conference on Wednesday, reporters asked the governor repeatedly whether he was intensifying his sales pitch for the budget.

He answered by saying that he had conducted "10, 15 town hall meetings" on the budget.

"When you get closer to the day of reckoning, we have to make sure that there's good discussion about what the options are," Mr. Corzine said. "Most of what we see is exactly what we've been told is general procedure"

He concluded by saying, "I don't think there's too much unusual here."

Still, there can be no denying that as the June 31 deadline for ratifying the budget approaches, his relationship with legislators has reached a more collegial pitch.

Dr. Harrison, recalling that Mr. Corzine was chairman and chief executive at Goldman Sachs, said: "How is this different from his days at Goldman Sachs? What he said, they got done, and sometimes they worked all night to get it done."

A series of disagreements with the Legislature over the past few months — including Mr. Corzine's proposal for a tax on hospital beds and his suggestion to offer self-service gasoline pumps — have "gotten him used to the idea" that he is not the only one involved in decisions, Dr. Harrison said.

That idea has also been reinforced by the sharpness of Democratic legislators' opposition to some of Mr. Corzine's budget plans, which calls for instituting several new taxes that would add $1.5 billion in revenue to help close a $4 billion shortfall.

As recently as May 22, State Senator Wayne R. Bryant, a Democrat of Camden County and the influential chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued a statement calling on Mr. Corzine to continue searching for more cuts. Asked if he would support Mr. Corzine's plan to raise the sales tax, Mr. Bryant replied: "Not today. But we're not voting today."

Early last month, another Senate Democrat, Shirley K. Turner of Mercer County, said the governor's plan to cut funds for higher education by $169 million was "draconian." And Senator Ellen Karcher, a Democrat from Monmouth County who is a strong ally of Mr. Corzine, sharply criticized the plan to tax hospital beds.

Still, although the Democrats' complaints have been pointed, legislators expect that they will be overcome in the consultations over the budget. Assemblyman Louis D. Greenwald, a Democrat of Camden County and the chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, said such comments were part of the usual vetting process during budget season.

"This is the same process that we go through every year," Mr. Greenwald said.

Moreover, he said the governor's leadership style had not hindered his interaction with legislators. "Everybody obviously has their own unique style," he said. "I've enjoyed working with him and Brad Abelow" — the state treasurer — "very, very much. I think you're going to find it's a very smooth transition through the budget process."

Smooth or not, even Republicans have taken note of the governor's efforts to work with his legislative colleagues.

"This has been a tremendous learning curve for him, even though he's been in politics," said Assemblyman Joseph R. Malone, a Republican from Burlington County. "State politics is far, far different from federal politics. At times, it gets more personal, and I have to give him a little bit of the benefit of the doubt."

In that spirit, perhaps, Mr. Malone warned against reading too much into disputes over the budget.

"You're going to start seeing a lot of scrambling and a lot of posturing," he said. "It's not about the people running around at the supermarket. It's what the meal looks like at the end of the cooking."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/nyregion/12budget.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)