N.J. Senate leader Sweeney's advisers often come from outside political spotlight

Nothing becomes law in New Jersey without Stephen Sweeney's OK.

As president of the state Senate - reelected unanimously to that position for a second two-year term - the Democrat decides which bills advance or die, determining the fate of Gov. Christie's bold agenda.

And helping Sweeney with his agenda is a tight circle of friends and advisers, several from his home turf of Gloucester County. Some are lawyers, others current or former lobbyists. One is a pastor. They have advised him on issues such as picking judges, overhauling worker benefits, and rethinking education.

Overall, it's a group defined by loyalty - "the labor guy's creed," says Sweeney, an organizer with the ironworkers.

A few also appear to have benefited from their relationship with the senator, and at least one of his ties - to South Jersey Democratic power broker George E. Norcross 3d - has aroused the ire of public workers' unions.

While Sweeney says he does talk about Trenton affairs with Norcross and his brother, lawyer Philip Norcross - friends from childhood - the senator's circle of advisers comes largely from outside the public spotlight.

When Sweeney needed to counter Christie's proposal for all public workers to pay 30 percent of their health-care premiums, he turned to Andrew Hendry, executive director of the Senate Democratic Office, who developed a plan to stagger contributions based on salary.

Hendry is the policy brain, having previously worked for the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services and the majority Assembly Democrats. Sweeney was Senate majority leader when he hired Hendry away from Comcast, where he was a lobbyist.

For other day-to-day workings, Sweeney relies on Kevin Hagan, who got his start in state politics in the late 1990s as a driver to Gov. Jim McGreevey when McGreevey was mayor of Woodbridge.

Hagan worked his way up to serve in McGreevey's governor's office and ran the state Democratic Party. He was a lobbyist - earning $316,400 from clients last year - when he returned to government last December at Sweeney's request.

Those former clients lobby on bills that cross Sweeney's desk, including the New Jersey Hospital Association, which advocated for a controversial provision in the health and pension overhaul bill from June favoring in-state hospitals.

Hagan sought support for the bill from lawmakers. According to disclosure forms, it was not an issue he dealt with while he was a lobbyist.

Former Comcast Corp. lobbyist Hendry also participated in meetings on a bill to deregulate the cable industry that Comcast pushed for this year.

That's not unusual: New Jersey's political world is small and many of its members end up lobbying at some point, said Ben Dworkin, a political science professor at Rider University.

Sweeney said he wants people around him who know what they're doing, and his staffers "work for me; they're not getting paid by those firms anymore."

Among Sweeney's informal advisers is Bill Castner, a Mount Laurel lawyer who helped ensure that most of the legislative races decided Nov. 8, including Sweeney's, favored incumbents.

Castner was legal counsel for the majority Democrats in hardball negotiations this year to redraw legislative boundaries to account for population changes following the latest census. Christie attributed the Democrats' election successes to a map that favored them.

Castner, former Gov. Jon S. Corzine's chief counsel, continues to maintain strong ties to the party leadership, attending a recent White House reception with George Norcross, Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd, and state Democratic chairman John Wisniewski.

When Sweeney and Christie were working out a compromise on allowing a hearing for Anne Patterson, the governor's nominee for a Supreme Court seat vacated when Christie ousted Justice John Wallace, the senator checked with Castner.

Sweeney also asked him to work behind the scenes with the Communication Workers of America on the health and pension overhaul that the union strenuously opposed.

"He's someone who has extreme credibility with that group. They despise me," Sweeney said.

The talks fell apart, and Sweeney and other South Jersey Democrats then teamed up with the minority Republicans to pass the bill.

Sweeney also draws on ties cultivated as he rose through politics as a freeholder in Gloucester County for 14 years, a post he left in December. Among them are County Administrator Chad Bruner and legislative aide Michelle Coryell, who are among a group that meets at local restaurants to talk strategy.

Coryell, daughter of Philadelphia carpenters' union leader Ed Coryell, began working for Sweeney in the late 1990s. She's described as Sweeney's eyes and ears in the county.

Today, she holds a $90,000 position as a confidential aide to the county freeholder director, works as chief of staff in Sweeney's legislative office for more than $30,000, and gets $1,900 a month from the Gloucester County Democrats for political work.

Asked about her multiple jobs in 2005, after he hired her as his legislative chief of staff while she continued as his top aide on the county payroll, Sweeney said her Senate position was temporary.

In an e-mail, Sweeney said the work of Coryell - who did not return a message - is invaluable. He said she ensures constituent concerns receive an immediate response and "essentially makes the trains run on time."

Bruner is Sweeney's sounding board on Trenton legislation that could affect local governments, such as regionalizing services and overhauling the civil service system.

Under Sweeney's leadership as freeholder director, Bruner was approved to receive one of the highest salaries of any county administrator, at $196,064. The Inquirer reported in 2010 that the same position in neighboring Camden County paid $169,008 and in Burlington County $160,139.

Sweeney said Bruner has extra responsibilities "doing the job of two people."

Ingrid Reed, a political analyst retired from the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, said there was nothing wrong with either arrangement as long as they fulfill their duties "entirely."

But, she wondered, given Coryell's multiple jobs, "is she giving the time [to her full-time job] that she's supposed to?"

The members of Sweeney's circle who draw the most public attention, however, are the Norcross brothers, who grew up with him in Pennsauken.

Insiders say Sweeney has a closer friendship with Philip Norcross than with George Norcross, who is an executive at insurance brokerage Conner Strong & Buckelew and chairman of Cooper University Hospital.

When he became freeholder, Sweeney brought in Philip Norcross, now a managing partner at the law firm of Parker McCay, as Gloucester County's bond counsel.

That has been lucrative for the firm. It has received $1.5 million in contracts from the county in the last five years.

"Phil's as bright as any person I've ever met and as honest as can be," Sweeney said.

Norcross recently co-founded a lobbying and strategy firm, whose clients include Comcast, which lobbied for the cable deregulation bill that some expect to be addressed in the lame-duck session that began Monday.

Yet Sweeney said "he's never lobbied me. The only time we talk about issues is when I pick up the phone."

Cooper, led by George Norcross, also has interests before the Legislature.

The hospital paid the firm Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti to lobby for a provision in the health and pension overhaul bill that would have benefited in-state hospitals, including Cooper, by curbing public employees' use of out-of-state hospitals. The provision was withdrawn after an outcry from unions.

George Norcross declined to answer questions about his relationship with Sweeney, who said their conversations tend to be about politics.

Their policies don't always align.

Norcross has spoken publicly in favor of the controversial Opportunity Scholarship Act, which would give corporations tax breaks in exchange for paying for children in failing public schools to attend private or better-performing public schools.

On this issue, Sweeney was swayed by a longtime confidant, the Rev. Edward Dorn of the Second Baptist Church in Salem County, who said he told Sweeney, "We can't neglect the public schools."

Sweeney said Dorn's doubts made him "start thinking about things" and influenced him to oppose the bill.