State Budget - Herald News - Roberts left all wet

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Published by The Herald News, Friday, July 7, 2006

Six days of rain ends, Roberts left all wet

By ALFRED DOBLIN, COLUMNIST

And on the sixth day, they came to agreement. The budget logjam is over and Gov. Jon S. Corzine is standing on high ground. Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts is clutching a log heading down the Delaware River.

During the state shutdown, it was clear this was a test of wills between Corzine and Roberts. Yet in true Trenton fashion, it was not always clear which legislators were aligned with Corzine or Roberts. For example on Wednesday, Assemblyman Alfred Steele, D-Paterson, said he was loyal to the speaker but he would support Corzine's plan if it came to the floor of the Assembly. The plan could not come to the floor unless the budget committee supported it. Guess who is on the budget committee? Steele. So how could it get to the floor if he didn't vote for it in committee? It boggles the mind.

In the future, Corzine supporters should wear blue sweater vests as a sign of allegiance to the governor. Supporters of Roberts should don life preservers.

In the U.S. Senate, Corzine was a consistent liberal voice, but he lacked seniority and rarely made national deadlines. That changed when he became governor. New Jerseyans finally have the opportunity to see the kind of man they elected. They also can understand why Corzine was frustrated by the U.S. Senate structure. In the Capitol, he was a cog. In Trenton, he's moving the machinery.

If casinos had been open, perhaps bets would have been placed on who would win: Corzine or Roberts? A few days ago, the betting money would have been on Roberts, the seemingly more seasoned Jersey politician. But tastes change. New Jerseyans want less seasoning and more meat.

The budget deal retains a 1 percent increase in the sales tax. Half goes to plug the budget gap and half toward property tax relief. Voters will decide in November if they want to amend the state Constitution to ensure this money remains dedicated for property tax relief. If the fiscal picture brightens, the entire 1 percent could be applied to relieve property taxes.

Roberts had balked at the sales tax increase. Corzine held firm to the tax but accepted a compromise offered by Senate President Richard J. Codey. The only way to stabilize state financing is to increase recurring revenues. A sales tax increase is not a gimmick; it is a dependable source of income.

Codey and Corzine are winners. Roberts is not. The most interesting collateral damage affecting Passaic County voters is Assemblywoman Nellie Pou. Earlier this year, she became chairwoman of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. She probably had no choice but to support Roberts -- a bad move for Pou; a good move for Patersonians. Last year, the state legislator inserted herself in the personnel decisions of the Paterson school district. Pou had issues with state-appointed Schools Superintendent Michael Glascoe. He didn't promote one of Pou's friends, who it turned out had never applied for the position. With Pou's star on the rise, it was anyone's guess how much meddling she could do in the Paterson district. However, it's one thing to be Dick Cheney to George W. Bush, it's quite another to be Spiro Agnew to Richard Nixon. Pou's days in the sun may be numbered. She backed the wrong horse.

Members of the Assembly do not face re-election until November 2007. They should face voters today. They should be held accountable for their lack of action before the clock ran out at midnight July 1. The state of New Jersey shut down because of egos run amok, because voters have allowed mediocrities -- of both political parties -- to waltz into office.

Being a Democrat in Paterson is not a good enough reason to be elected to the Assembly, anymore than it is in Camden. Voters get back what they put into the electoral process. On Thursday, before the agreement was reached, Corzine told lawmakers that his father had a saying: "If you're trying to get out of a hole, why don't you just stop digging?"

The digging has stopped, and there is a whopper of a hole. It's a good thing. Roberts, Pou and their allies have some place to hide until November 2007.

Alfred P. Doblin is the editorial page editor of the Herald News. Reach him at doblin@northjersey.com

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