Sweeney: 'Shocked' if A.C. complies with new law
TRENTON - New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney says he'd be "shocked" if Atlantic City submits a sufficient financial plan to the state by the end of October that would block a takeover of the local government.
TRENTON - New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney says he'd be "shocked" if Atlantic City submits a sufficient financial plan to the state by the end of October that would block a takeover of the local government.
Sweeney (D., Gloucester) says he hopes the city meets the terms of legislation signed into law Friday by Gov. Christie that gives local officials five months to submit a balanced budget to the state for calendar year 2017 and a five-year plan to stabilize its finances.
But, Sweeney told reporters in his Statehouse office Tuesday, "I am not confident that they will solve their own problems." He predicted that if the state Department of Community Affairs rejects the plan, the city would file a lawsuit to halt a takeover.
Under the law, the state can intervene if the city fails to submit a plan or the DCA commissioner deems it insufficient.
The state would be able to break labor contracts, dissolve agencies, sell city assets, restructure debts, and assume full control of the local government.
Sweeney also ripped the city for not moving quickly enough to cut costs and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D., Hudson) for peddling a "great piece of fiction" over how the deal was reached.
"The Assembly didn't participate," Sweeney told reporters. "There was just not a will to do it. No one was trying to come up with a solution, because . . . in my mind, it was fitting a very good political story. This was making me look very bad."
Sweeney is expected to seek the Democratic nomination for governor next year, as is Prieto ally Steve Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City. In siding with Christie against public-sector unions, Sweeney may have suffered politically as a result of the Atlantic City debate.
Asked why he was briefing reporters on Atlantic City just days after the issue seemed to be put to rest, Sweeney cited Prieto's commentary Friday in the Newark Star-Ledger.
Prieto wrote that he had "fought to protect New Jersey taxpayers, the residents of Atlantic City, the right of labor to organize and local government."
"We stood up against strong opposition and weren't bullied," the speaker continued. "We forced compromise, and New Jersey got better legislation."
Sweeney said he wanted to set the record straight. "I'm more than willing to put things down and move forward and lead, because that's what you're supposed to do in these positions," he said. "But when we're done, then you attack?"
Nevertheless, Sweeney suggested the Democratic-controlled Legislature would accomplish much before the fiscal year ends June 30. The state must pass a balanced budget by then.
Sweeney also said he "fully" expected the Legislature to pass a constitutional amendment that would require the state to make contributions to the pension system for public employees.
"It's getting done," he said. The question would then be put to voters in November.
Lawmakers also are working to replenish New Jersey's fund for road, bridge, and rail maintenance and projects, which essentially runs out of money June 30.
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