Not quite yet, and not quite exactly.
But that is the inescapable conclusion to be drawn from the Governor’s Press Conference today, and his announcement that he will propose a new law to the Legislature that will restore the $139 Million for Transitional Aid in this year’s state budget that he had vetoed at the end of June.Trenton has included $24 Million, down from last year’s grant of $27 Million, in planning for this new Fiscal Year. It desperately needs the money.
At the time of Governor Christie’s line-item veto, it was unclear why the Governor had turned his back on the program that his administration had actually created just one year ago. The veto which left only $10 Million for cities such as Trenton, Camden and Paterson came as a slap in the face to those cities, and to all who lived in them.
Today, we understand a little more about that Veto three weeks ago, and the Governor’s plan today. In essence, the oversight authority exercised by the Office of Local Government Services of the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) – previously exercised per the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – would be given the force of law.
In the language of the proposed law (provided to me via email from fellow active citizen Jim Calrucci, but as of this writing not available via any link), DCA would have final say over all municipal matters involving
“…personnel actions, professional service and related contracts, payment in lieu of tax agreements, acceptance of grants, from state, federal, or other organizations, and creation of new or expanded public services.”
Am I missing anything? Actually I don’t think so. This just about covers – or could easily be interpreted to cover – every significant municipal activity that a City and its elected government handles. And these matters would be finally decided not by our Mayor nor Council, but by DCA.This proposed law also provides that DCA would be allowed to retain some of the Transitional Aid funds to expand its own staffing to handle its expanded – permanent – administrative duties. Presumably, this will likely include one or more DCA employees with offices at City Hall, the better to “allow the State to ensure that these State taxpayer subsidies are spent in a manner that is consistent with transparency and effective government practices, by overseeing important municipal spending decisions,” in the language of the proposed statute.
Had the Governor not vetoed these funds a few weeks ago, the previous process of administering Transitional Aid would have continued to be managed via the terms of the MOU’s, which were stringent enough. This new proposed legislation writes DCA’s final authority, and therefore the Governor’s, into law.
Would anyone else like to offer a definition of “State Takeover of Trenton” that’s different than what this looks like?
UPDATE: In this report on nj.com, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver offers some pushback to the Governor’s plan. We’ll have to watch and see how this law fares in the Legislature.
Does the new bill have a number or a sponsor yet?
Not that I can tell. The Legislature wasn’t in session today, and from what I read, has only a limited schedule of hearings through the end of the week. We’ll watch this.