State Budget - NY Times - Corzine vs. Roberts/Norcross

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Published by The New York Times, Thursday, July 6, 2006

News Analysis
Behind Standoff, a Struggle for Party Control

By LAURA MANSNERUS

TRENTON, July 5 — Much of New Jersey's government has come to a shrieking halt because of a dispute over how to spend a half-cent in sales tax, over a payroll tax that most voters do not even know they pay, and over proposals that would ordinarily slip through the budget committees without discussion.

Yet while the spoken lines in this expensive political theater are about tax policy, conversations in the wings of the State House tell a different story: that this protracted inability on the part of the Democratic Assembly speaker and the Democratic governor to reach a budget agreement is much more about control of the party.

"This is less about policy than about people's personalities," State Senator Ellen Karcher, a Monmouth County Democrat, said of the standoff between Gov. Jon S. Corzine and Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr.

Mr. Corzine, who laid out his budget 106 days ago, has an unwavering message: The sales tax increase is crucial to the state's chronically underfinanced government, and anything less is an easy and empty gesture.

Mr. Roberts says that any sales tax increase must be dedicated to property tax relief, and that the 49 Assembly Democrats will not even accept a compromise that sets aside half a cent for that purpose. He has floated several alternatives, including an increase in a disability payroll tax that Mr. Corzine has rejected.

From the start of this standoff, the Senate, also controlled by Democrats, has stood with the governor, or at least with the half-cent compromise that Senate President Richard J. Codey proposed two weeks ago.

So have unions representing public employees and casino workers, who are losing money every day there is no budget. And so have a number of Assembly Democrats, who say privately that they would vote for Mr. Corzine's budget but are not ready to desert their speaker — yet.

But Mr. Roberts and the Assembly Budget Committee chairman, Louis D. Greenwald, have not budged. In fact, they say they have gained ground; more than 20 Assembly Democrats stood ready to support Mr. Corzine as of the deadline last Friday for a new budget, but in a show of hands on Tuesday, Mr. Roberts insisted the number was down to 15.

Mr. Roberts and Mr. Greenwald, both from Camden County, are leading a faction from South Jersey that for years has complained of slights by the statewide party. The current standoff reflects that estrangement — and perhaps, some legislators say, accounts for Mr. Roberts's resistance.

Many others say — although rarely for attribution — that the real chess match here is between Mr. Corzine and the Camden County organization, personified by Mr. Roberts and by George E. Norcross III, one of the party's most formidable power brokers.

Mr. Norcross, a former Camden County Democratic party chairman, is not only a political ally and former business partner of Mr. Roberts, but the patron of many other South Jersey Democrats. Nor does his influence end there, since the Camden County organization sends money to Democratic candidates all over the state.

At the same time, Mr. Corzine has tried to distance himself from the powerful Camden County organization.

As for Mr. Norcross, "The governor has not spoken to him for a while and has no reason to," said Anthony Coley, Mr. Corzine's press secretary.

The proxy theory is widespread among Republicans.

"This is a power struggle by South Jersey political boss George Norcross to display his power over the governor of New Jersey," Assemblyman Richard A. Merkt said, "and the governor is struggling to display his independence from the boss system of New Jersey."

Mr. Merkt added: "It's a battle that's long overdue. If I have to choose between an elected official and a hidden Cardinal Richelieu type, I'll take the elected official every time." But Mr. Merkt, like all Assembly Republicans, is opposed to all tax increases.

But Ross K. Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers, discounts the Norcross theory. "Joe Roberts is trying to protect South Jersey Democrats in marginal districts," Professor Baker said.

As he put it: "The idea that George Norcross uses Joe Roberts as a cudgel to beat up on the governor is ludicrous. But I do think the Democrats in the southern part of the state are feeling less secure, and the word 'tax' is a deal-breaker for many voters."

Mr. Roberts, who was in a daylong closed session with the Assembly Democrats, could not be reached for comment. But he said in a recent news conference that Mr. Norcross had no role in the standoff.

In a recent interview, he called Mr. Norcross his friend, but said that he would not last a day if "people thought that I was not independent."

Mr. Norcross was on vacation and could not be reached, an assistant said, and he did not respond to two e-mail messages over the last few days.

Many legislators say Mr. Roberts has simply backed himself into a corner — a situation that Republicans are enjoying as they watch the fireworks.

Assemblyman Guy Gregg, a Morris County Republican, said: "I don't mean this in a personal way, because I like Joe, but I think he's Dr. Frankenstein in a way because he's created this monster in his caucus" by casting its members as warriors against a tax increase.

"And now I think there's no going back," Mr. Gregg said. "The governor can change his mind tomorrow. Joe can't. He's leading 49 people."

Mr. Corzine, as the most visible figure in the budget battle, stands to bear the brunt of voter anger if the shutdown continues for long. But so far, he is receiving favorable reviews for his stubbornness from some legislators in both parties.

Senator Karcher, for example, said Mr. Corzine had shown admirable tenacity in the last few weeks — although she added, "Admiring his maneuver on this is not necessarily admiring what he's put on the table."

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