TRENTON, May 20 — With Gov. James E. McGreevey warning that New Jersey may be forced to lay off thousands of state workers, the General Assembly today overwhelmingly passed an early retirement plan that the governor said was necessary to avert the layoffs.þþBut in the State Senate, where the plan stalled last week, Republicans and Democrats today exchanged only heated words, and did not even schedule a date to reassess the issue. Labor leaders watched the situation closely, but few seemed worried that the impasse might actually cost their members their jobs.þþInstead, the issue of early retirement emerged as the unlikely battleground for the first major standoff between the governor and Republican legislators. Mr. McGreevey introduced his early retirement initiative last month, as part of his package to close a projected budget shortfall of $5.3 billion. The governor's plan seeks to reduce the state work force by at least 1,000, saving an estimated $46 million during the fiscal year that begins on July 1.þþWhen the proposal reached the State Senate, which is evenly split between the parties, Republicans sought to expand the incentive program to include thousands of teachers and municipal employees throughout the state. That would have eliminated most of the savings Mr. McGreevey had sought, so the issue was tabled on Thursday.þþThe McGreevey administration responded by ordering the personnel department to prepare to lay off as many as 2,400 state employees in order to recoup the $46 million, and the governor said today that it was reckless of the ranking Republican senator, John O. Bennett, to use the issue to pander to the politically powerful teachers' union.þþÿInstead of working with the administration to resolve the budget deficit and acting in a fiscally responsible manner, Senator Bennett would rather make political promises to various public employee constituencies,ÿ Mr. McGreevey said. ÿUltimately, if the legislation is not passed, 2,400 layoffs would be required.ÿþþBut Mr. Bennett and his fellow Republicans did not back off. Instead, Republicans chastised Mr. McGreevey for making ÿempty threatsÿ about taking away the livelihood of thousands of state employees. ÿStop using state workers as political pawns,ÿ Mr. Bennett said. ÿThese are real jobs filled by real people who have real families.ÿþþSpeaking at a news conference in the State House, Mr. Bennett called on the leading Democrat in the Senate, Richard J. Codey, to schedule a new voting session on Thursday to reconsider the bill, but as of early evening the two men had not spoken.þþLeaders of several state employees unions said they had received a stream of calls and e-mail messages today from state employees concerned about their job security. But organized labor is such a potent political force in New Jersey, and gave such enthusiastic support to Mr. McGreevey during last fall's governor's race, that many union officials were optimistic that the layoffs would be avoided.þþÿI don't think Democrats or Republicans want to see layoffs,ÿ said Rae Roeder, president of Communications Workers of America Local 1033, which represents 6,000 state employees. ÿBoth on a human level and a political level it would be senseless. Especially when there's something like early retirement, a humane way to reduce the work force, on the table.ÿþþRepublican legislators said they had hoped that by expanding the program to include local government employees and teachers they could help local communities reduce their property tax bills. The attempt to include teachers and municipal employees is also politically popular and is the kind of incendiary issue that could cut into Democrats' support from labor in several swing districts.þþBut Senator Codey, the Democratic co-president of the Senate, said he would not put the Republican proposal up for a vote because it was irresponsible to expand the scope of the bill without knowing how much it would add to the state's budget problems.þþThe increasingly contentious atmosphere suggests that the budget negotiations during the next six weeks may get nasty. Before the fiscal year ends on June 30, the Legislature must vote on several important elements of Mr. McGreevey's budget plan, including a new corporate business tax code, higher cigarette taxes and a bond sale based on the national tobacco settlement.þþÿWe've got six weeks,ÿ said Senator Wayne R. Bryant, a Democrat of Camden, one of the budget committee chairmen. ÿThis is not time to play.ÿþ
Source: NY Times
