State Budget - Gloucester Co. Times - Reactions to Green/Moriarty/Sweeney plan

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Published in the Gloucester County Times, Sunday, June 18, 2006

Sweeney and Moriarty have heavily pushed their plan
to cut state workers' benefits; the local reaction mirrors New Jersey

By Trish Graber
tgraber@sjnewsco.com

Sen. Stephen Sweeney and Assemblyman Paul Moriarty's plan to cut state workers' total compensation by 15 percent to mirror the "real world" is getting mixed local reviews.

The Communications Workers of America Local 1085, which represents the majority of county employees, calls the proposal unfair, while those in the private sector say the legislators' call to raise current public employees' work week from 35 to 40 hours, require benefit contributions and remove pension padding, among other measures, is a step forward.

"I think Sweeney and his cohort have a very good idea to mirror industry," said Carl Helwig, president of Pureland Industrial Group.

Sweeney, D-3 of West Deptford, Moriarty, D-4 of Washington Township and Assemblyman Jerry Green, D-22 of Somerset, launched the package as a way to halt a planned 1 percent sales tax increase.

State unions rallied against the plan in Trenton earlier this month, when Sweeney and Moriarty unveiled their Web site - www.stopspendingmymoney.com - but the lawmakers, each union-affiliated, stood strong.

Amid the state workers' backlash, the three have received support from the those in the private sector who continue to pay rising health care costs and those who represent them.

Helwig, whose Pureland Industrial Group in the Bridgeport section of Logan Township is South Jersey's largest business complex, said the legislators' focus on benefits as a cost-saving measure is a good approach, especially when it reflects the private sector.

"When you do make a co-pay function like that, it (encourages) people to try to minimize their cost and also take preventative measures to take care of their health," he said.

"There's several measures the private sector has taken to overcome the burden of high health care costs -- the public sector has not followed suit," she said. "Businesses provide what they can afford ... but there's not that standing pot of money there to fund it."

In March, Davis testified before the Assembly Budget Committee on Gov. Jon Corzine's proposed budget, where she called on the governor and legislators to "do whatever possible to rein in" the cost of providing health care to public employees.

In testimony, Davis said the Chamber has testified "year after year" and that once again, "it is the growth in the cost of employee benefits that is the major driver in this year's chase for new revenue."

But CWA Local 1085 President Richard Dann said Sweeney's proposal for a compensation cut of 15 percent would be unfair to public employees, and he is skeptical that it would provide the intended relief.

"He's trying to make a point that he's angry and that he's trying to find alternatives to a tax increase," he said. "It's not realistic, it wouldn't bail the state out."

Sweeney says his plan is at least a starting point.

"Changing deductibles and adjusting little things can add up to a lot of money," he said. "For us, it's strictly about taxpayers now, we can't afford the government we have."

Dann countered that state workers are already plagued by high taxes, and that Sweeney's proposed compensation cuts would lay a heavier burden on them.

"He talks about sharing the pain. In fact, state workers share the pain already because they're taxpayers just like everyone else," he said. "What he's actually asking state workers to do is take the lion's share of the pain."

The plan introduced by Sweeney, Gloucester County freeholder director and treasurer with the Ironworkers Union Local 399 in Westville; Moriarty, Washington Township mayor; and Green aims to scale back government costs by $700 million.

The total plan would reduce 15 percent of state employees' total compensation, which includes salaries, benefits and pension.

Some of the recommendations would require re-negotiation of state workers' contracts before they expire in 2007.

Sweeney, Moriarty and Green recently called on Corzine to advise the unions to re-open those contracts. Likewise, Sweeney proposed that he and other state legislators take a 15 percent pay cut, a savings of $7,350 per lawmaker.

But, speaking on the proposals last week, a spokesman for Corzine said re-opening contracts would not make an impact on the current budget. And as for Sweeney's pay cut for legislators, Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley said it "falls far short of providing immediate tax relief in next year's budget.

"To plug a $4.5 billion budget gap, you need far-reaching ideas with tangible savings. This does not reflect that," he added.

Sweeney said Friday that he would continue to work toward reform, even if the proposals do not take effect before the July 1 deadline for the passage of the state budget, currently proposed at $30.9 billion.

"If it doesn't happen today, it's got to happen in the future," he said. "Within the next 18 months we're going to have a lot of changes in the way we do state government."

http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news-1/115061496244800.xml&coll=8

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