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7-1-14 Fallout per June 30 2014 - State Budget Vetoed and Signed by Gov Before Midnight ...PARCC Implementation Delay Bills Held
GSCS Note: Bill to Delay Implementation of PARCC Testing Results for Evaluations, A3081 Jasey/S2154 van Drew, Held from Senate Vote – Compromise in the Works - GSCS was at the State House to observe the back and forth ‘will there be a vote or won’t there be a vote’ scramble between the legislature and the executive branch. In the late afternoon work got out that the bills were held from final passage and that the upshot that it is likely that Governor will issue an Executive Order – or regulation or both – in time for July 9 State Board of Education Meeting. Whether that resolves the tug of war between the legislature and the Governor on the PARCC testing and teacher evaluation issues remains to be seen...Stay tuned...

NJ Spotlight – Legislative Efforts to Slow Down PARCC Parked -- at Least for Now…With Christie veto almost certain, lawmakers wait to hear governor's compromise solution...NJ Spotlight - Explainer: Impact of PARCC Tests on Teachers, Schools at Center of Debate…Controversial exams tied to Common Core Standards scheduled to debut in NJ during next school year

The Record - Christie signs budget; vetoes tax hikes proposed by Democrats JUNE 30, 2014, 1:12 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014, 10:02 PM BY JOHN REITMEYER AND MELISSA HAYES STATE HOUSE BUREAU Governor Christie signed a $32.5 billion budget into law Monday evening, using his line-item veto to slash more than $1 billion in spending from the appropriations bill that lawmakers had approved knowing he would cut that funding and reject their tax increases...

Bloomberg - Christie Cuts $1 Billion of Tax Increases From Budget

...'The second-term Republican removed a higher pension payment and money for women’s health care from the $34.1 billion plan sent to him last week by the Democratic-controlled legislature. He also rejected tax surcharges meant to pay for them...'

NJTV - Gov. Christie Vetoes Tax Hikes On Proposed Budget...'Gov. Chris Christie has vetoed state lawmakers’ proposal for a tax increase on the state budget on the day of the deadline.Chief Political Correspondent Michael Aron discusses the governor’s decision with NJTV News Managing Editor Mike Schneider. Aron says that the governor kept his word about the veto. As for the tax hike proposed by politicians, according to Aron it was a separate legislation from the budget...'

NJ Spotlight - Christie Uses Vetoes To Drive Political Message For 2016 Campaign … With Democrats powerless to override governor's vetoes, only courts can order state to make required pension payments

GSCS Note: Bills to Delay PARCC Implementation of Testing Results for Evaluations, A3081 Jasey-S2154 van Drew, Held from Senate Vote – Compromise in the Works

GSCS was there to observe the back and forth ‘will there be a vote or won’t there be a vote’ scramble between the legislature and the executive branch. In the  late afternoon work got out that the bills were held from final passage and that the upshot that it is likely that Governor will issue an Executive Order – or regulation or both – in time for July 9  State  Board of Education Meeting. Whether that resolves the tug of war between the legislature and the Governor on the PARCC testing and teacher evaluation issues remains to be seen.

NJ Spotlight – Legislative Efforts to Slow Down PARCC Parked -- at Least for Now John Mooney | July 1, 2014 With Christie veto almost certain, lawmakers wait to hear governor's compromise solution The legislative campaign to slow the state’s dive into the new online PARCC testing looked like it came to a halt yesterday, with all eyes now on the Christie administration to come up with an alternative. The state Senate again held off final vote on a bill that would have created a task force to review the potential impact of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, and to delay any consequences for teachers in their evaluations for up to two years. RELATED LINKS Senate Bill 2154 With Gov. Chris Christie almost sure to veto such a bill, legislators said the delayed vote was largely a move to give Christie an opportunity to put forward his promised compromise, likely to be a state regulation or an executive order -- or both. The announcement from the Christie camp may be slowed by the absence of acting state Education Commissioner David Hespe, who is traveling out of the country. “It is better to get part of a loaf than no loaf at all,” said state Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May), the primary sponsor of the bill. “The overall goal here is to have teachers evaluations less reliant on the testing, when we are not sure of the quality and efficiency of the testing, and I think that is what is being discussed.” Van Drew predicted that the governor would issue an executive order reducing the weight of testing in teacher evaluations. The formula now calls for student progress on state testing to make up 30 percent of an evaluation for teachers of Grades 4 through 8 language arts and math, the only grades and subjects currently tested. He also did not rule out that the changes could be accomplished through administrative regulation. The state Board of Education, which has authority over department regulations, meets next Wednesday. “This way at least gets us something significant,” he said of the regulatory path. Van Drew said the bill still was poised for a vote if the proposals are not satisfactory, saying the Senate could act when meets again in July. “This has strong support,” he said. “This is one of those unlikely times when you have conservative and liberals -- even for different reasons -- say there are real issues and problems.” The bill already passed the Assembly with 72 of 80 votes. Others involved in the talks said that the back and forth with the administration was ongoing. “The work continues,” said state Sen. Teresa Ruiz,(D-Essex), chair of the Senate education committee. ‘We are working to come up with good policy through the regulatory process,” she said yesterday. And others also said they were hoping for some alternative paths to a solution. Ginger Gold Schnitzer, chief lobbyist for the New Jersey Education Association, said the aim was to take a hard look at the state’s testing regimens -- PARCC and others. “The most important thing we can do is improve how PARCC and the teacher evaluations are being implemented,” she said last night. “There are lots of different ways to get that done.” The NJEA backed the van Drew bill, but Schnitzer said she was open to hearing from the administration. “If delaying a vote allows for a solution that is faster and more effective, we need to pursue that,” she said. She added that one of the most important ingredients would be a well-chosen task force to conduct the review, a piece of the stalled legislation. Still, not all were satisfied with the pace of the process -- or the potential outcome. Leaders of what has become an unlikely alliance of groups behind the bill held a press conference yesterday to press for a vote. On hand were those from Save Our Schools NJ, a pro-public schools organization, and the Eagle Forum, a conservative group against the new testing and Common Core State Standards as a whole, as well as members of some of the state’s Tea Party groups. “Our coalition members want a Senate vote and then a decision by the governor as to whether he will sign the bill,” said Julia Sass Rubin, a leader of SOS-NJ. “We want to be able to hold the legislators and the governor accountable for their actions,” she said. “No more backroom deals!” NJ Spotlight - Explainer: Impact of PARCC Tests on Teachers, Schools at Center of Debate John Mooney | July 1, 2014 Controversial exams tied to Common Core Standards scheduled to debut in NJ during next school year What it means: The PARCC tests represent a big change in the way New Jersey and other states assess their students, both in the platform and the content. The online platform is a major departure from the traditional paper-and-pencil tests. And the content -- which is aligned with the new Common Core State Standards and their more rigorous benchmarks for student learning -- will surely be more rigorous than what students have encountered in the past. PARCC FAQ New Jersey’s PARCC Website NJ Students Take Part in Field Test of Online PARCC Exams The debate: In New Jersey and elsewhere, the fight involves a variety of interests, on both the left and the right of the political spectrum , but much of it revolves around the states’ use of the tests to make high-stakes decisions about schools and teachers. In addition, many educators say schools and students don’t have access to the technology needed for the testing, and others – both inside and outside the schools -- see the PARCC tests as reflective of the “testing culture” that they claim has taken over schools. Still others don’t like the idea of any kind of national standards and testing, saying that education approaches and policies should left to local communities to decide. Since September, in fact, three states – Arizona, Florida and Tennessee -- have dropped out as members in the partnership. The consequences: It isn’t just about students. Some of the strongest resistance in New Jersey has been from the New Jersey Education Association, the teachers union. The NJEA’s leadership has called for a delay in the use of the tests as part of teacher evaluations, saying the methods have not been proven accurate or effective. A bill pending in the Legislature would delay use of PARCC until its impact can be evaluated by a new Education Reform Review Task Force. Who will administer the test: The PARCC consortium has selected Pearson Publishing to administer and score the test. Pearson will provide the necessary materials to districts, then receive the completed tests and score them. Who will be tested: Students from in third grade through 11th grade will take the PARCC tests in language arts and math. How it will work: Students will be permitted to take the tests on a range of approved technology platforms, ranging from desktop computers to tablets. Students will sit for the test in two sections during the year, once in the spring to complete the performance-based section of the test, including writing, and a second time at the end of the year for a test of content and knowledge. How long are the tests? In all, students will sit for testing nine different times during the year -- five times for language arts and four for math. The duration is more than eight hours, three hours more than the current testing. The cost: The price tag depends on how one does the math. The cost of the tests themselves will be roughly the same per student as the current testing, or about $21 million statewide. But big cost increase will be in fast-tracking the required technology, with some districts saying they are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars – if not millions -- to have the necessary computers and bandwidth in place next year. Out with the old: The advent of PARCC means the end of New Jersey’s battery of tests for grades 3-8, known as NJASK, and the test for Grade 11, the HSPA.

 

The Record - Christie signs budget; vetoes tax hikes proposed by Democrats

June 30, 2014, 1:12 PM    Last updated: Monday, June 30, 2014, 10:02 PM

By JOHN REITMEYER and MELISSA HAYES

state house bureau

Governor Christie signed a $32.5 billion budget into law Monday evening, using his line-item veto to slash more than $1 billion in spending from the appropriations bill that lawmakers had approved knowing he would cut that funding and reject their tax increases.

Christie cut funding for women’s health care, a tax credit for low-wage workers and legal services for the poor, all from the budget bill approved by Democrats on Thursday. The governor also delayed property tax relief to next year, overriding Democratic attempts to provide it next month.

He also cut the pension fund payment, the subject of a court challenge and a move that will likely return the issue to the same judge. Democrats passed their budget last week in part to send a message to that judge that Christie had an alternative to slashing the pension payments, and union leaders said Monday they would challenge his latest cut.

Christie also vetoed two tax increases: One would have raised income taxes for high earners, the other on businesses. Democrats approved the tax increases and used the money they said would come in to support a $2.25 billion payment to the public employee pension fund. Christie had planned to make that payment, but scaled back when earlier tax revenues failed to meet his estimates.

He kept one tax cut in place – his decision to trim more than $600 million in business taxes.

Wall Street ratings agencies have downgraded the state’s credit rating six times, citing concerns about New Jersey’s unfunded pension liability as well as its slow recovery from the recession.

Christie, who has been calling for pension reforms in recent months without offering any details, planned to promote his spending plan on a morning cable news appearance and later today during a town hall-style event in Caldwell.

Christie signed the budget and vetoed the tax-hike bills in private, releasing a statement explaining his actions just before 6 p.m. and posting a picture of himself signing the bill in his office on social media a short time later. New Jersey’s constitution requires that a balanced budget be in place each year on July 1.

“I strongly believe that punitively raising taxes on our already overtaxed residents and small business owners is not the answer to the state’s short- and long-term fiscal challenges,” Christie said in the statement.

“The Legislature’s budget, if enacted, would accomplish nothing more than to repeat the failed, irresponsible, and unsustainable policies that were commonplace in Trenton for years before my administration,” he said.

The public employee unions argue that Christie’s scaled-back pension payment will only further hurt the state’s rating, which is among the lowest of any state and can result in higher borrowing costs.

“By again failing to make sure everyone pays their fair share, Christie continues to put our state on even shakier financial footing,” said Hetty Rosenstein, state director of Communication Workers of America, the largest union representing state employees.

Though his actions were expected, Democratic legislative leaders immediately criticized Christie, saying his budget edits would hurt middle-class residents.

“Our budget was a fiscally responsible plan that would have honored the state’s commitments and increased funding for critical services. It was the right thing to do for all New Jerseyans,” said Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester.

Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, D-Secaucus, said, “The governor’s failure to fully fund our pension obligation will push New Jersey closer toward fiscal disaster, and his rejection of tax relief for working families and continued support for tax breaks for millionaires is once again disappointing.”

But Republicans say Christie is being responsible by signing a budget that does not raise taxes.

“This was the best option available, and the governor has delivered a balanced budget that is fair to everyone in New Jersey,” said Assembly Republican Budget Officer Declan O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth. “The Democrats’ political solution of massive job-killing tax increases would have had a devastating impact on the economy, and working families would have paid a steep price.”

“The budget proposed by the Democrats would have increased taxes over $1 billion and hurt the middle-class working families in our state,” said Assemblyman Scott Rumana, R-Wayne. “I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are now ready to discuss real solutions, beginning with additional state pension reforms and school funding formula reform.”

Christie originally proposed a $34.4 billion spending plan in February that included the $2.25 billion state pension payment that he and lawmakers agreed to after enacting a pension contribution law in 2010. Another pension reform, enacted in 2011, required public employees to contribute more for their pensions, but also made the state payments a contractual obligation.

But the governor significantly reduced the pension payment for the fiscal year that ended on Monday after tax collections fell short of his original estimates by about $1 billion. That pension payment cut, from $1.6 billion to $696 million, drew a court challenge from 14 labor unions representing public employees in New Jersey.

Last week a Superior Court judge in Mercer County upheld the cut, saying it occurred only as a last resort to solve a fiscal emergency. But in her decision, Assignment Judge Mary C. Jacobson also seemed to agree with the unions that the pension contribution is a contractual right of the employees that can be reduced only under very limited circumstances.

Democratic legislative leaders said last week, after passing a $34.1 billion spending plan that included the $2.25 billion pension contribution, that it was important to show the judge the state had other options in the new fiscal year to fulfill its obligations to the pension system, which serves about 770,000 active and retired employees and is worth nearly $80 billion.

Union officials say they will take the Christie administration right back to court now that his latest spending plan once again has reduced the pension payment, though this time not in the midst of a budget crisis in the final days of the state’s fiscal year.

“The governor’s failure to pay his pension obligation under a law he pushed for just highlights the failure of his fiscal management,” said Patrick Colligan, executive vice president of the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association, in a statement. “We will do everything in our power through the courts and Legislature to fight for our pensions to be fully funded.”

Email: reitmeyer@northjersey.com and hayes@northjersey.com

Bloomberg - Christie Cuts $1 Billion of Tax Increases From Budget

By Terrence Dopp - Jun 30, 2014

Governor Chris Christie cut more than $1 billion in spending and vetoed Democratic tax increases on New Jersey millionaires and corporations before signing a $32.5 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts tomorrow.

The second-term Republican removed a higher pension payment and money for women’s health care from the $34.1 billion plan sent to him last week by the Democratic-controlled legislature. He also rejected tax surcharges meant to pay for them.

Democrats passed their higher spending plan even after a judge ruled in favor of Christie’s proposal to chop a required pension payment to balance his budget. Lawmakers had sought to restore the record $2.25 billion payment that Christie pledged and then reneged on last month as revenue fell short amid lower-than-forecast income-tax collections.

“Through the use of his veto pen, Governor Christie is continuing to take the lead in responsibly managing state government while making the difficult choices to prioritize and fund essential services that New Jerseyans rely on,” according to a statement from his office today.

Shortfalls, credit downgrades and rising pension costs have dogged Christie this term. Standard & Poor’s has said the state may face a seventh downgrade, a record for a New Jersey governor, if he and lawmakers can’t end recurring deficits.

Tax Accusation

“Because the foundation of the legislature’s proposal is unsound, I must object,” Christie wrote in his veto message. “Rather than enacting responsible policies that will encourage and allow New Jersey’s economy and revenues to grow, the legislature appears to be intent on inhibiting economic growth with crushing taxes.”

The New Jersey Public Employees’ Retirement System, with about 770,000 active and retired members, is underfunded by $38 billion. Christie signed legislation in 2010 to make the required payments, plus seven years of extra contributions. His plan now is to skip those infusions and add just the actuarially required amounts: $696 million this year and $681 million in 2015.

Because of the lower payments, the state’s share of the pension gap will exceed $40 billion by 2016 as its funded ratio drops to 50.8 percent from 53.7 percent, Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff told lawmakers in May.

To contact the reporter on this story: Terrence Dopp in Trenton at tdopp@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at smerelman@bloomberg.net Stacie Sherman

 

NJTV - Gov. Christie Vetoes Tax Hikes On Proposed Budget  6-30-14

Gov. Chris Christie has vetoed state lawmakers’ proposal for a tax increase on the state budget on the day of the deadline.

Chief Political Correspondent Michael Aron discusses the governor’s decision with NJTV News Managing Editor Mike Schneider. Aron says that the governor kept his word about the veto. As for the tax hike proposed by politicians, according to Aron it was a separate legislation from the budget.

http://www.njtvonline.org/news/video/gov-christie-vetoes-tax-hikes-on-proposed-budget/

NJ Spotlight - Christie Uses Vetoes To Drive Political Message For 2016 Campaign Mark J. Magyar | July 1, 2014 With Democrats powerless to override governor's vetoes, only courts can order state to make required pension payments For Gov. Chris Christie, the $34.1 billion budget and tax increases the Democratic-controlled Legislature approved last week represented an opportunity to drive home a political message aimed as much at future presidential primary voters in Iowa and New Hampshire as those in New Jersey who reelected him to a second term last November. Christie vetoed Democratic legislation to raise the income tax rate on millionaires to 10.75 percent and impose a 15 percent surcharge on the corporate business tax, arguing that “punitively raising taxes on our already overtaxed residents and small businesses is not the answer to the state’s short- and long-term fiscal challenges.” The Republican governor also defended his decision to cut $1.5 billion from the legally required pension payments in the upcoming budget by noting that the $2.89 billion he will contribute to the pension system in his first five years in office is more than any previous New Jersey governor. He also argued that the $681 million payment he is making in Fiscal Year 2015 will cover the current cost of benefits earned by active teachers and state workers -- even though it does nothing to pay down the $40 billion unfunded liability that has built up over the past 15 years, including on Christie’s watch. It is a message Christie will drive home this morning on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” and later in the day at a town hall meeting in Caldwell, and it is a part of his record he will emphasize in speeches across the country this summer. Democratic legislative leaders lack the two-thirds majority required in the state Senate and Assembly to override Christie’s vetoes of the millionaire’s tax and corporate income tax surcharge, and of the restoration of the $2.25 billion Fiscal Year 2015 pension payment the taxes were designed to fund. Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson) could call the Legislature in for a special session later this month for override votes if they want to make political points -- as Sweeney did in 2011 after Christie vetoed an earlier Democratic bill to raise income taxes on the wealthy and redlined so many Democratic initiatives from the budget that the Senate president openly called him a “rotten prick.” This year, however, Christie did leave in a series of Democratic spending increases for cancer research, financial aid for low-income college students, services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, and for abused and neglected children. Furthermore, Sweeney and Prieto may want to move directly to seek legislative approval to place constitutional amendments on the November 2015 ballot to increase the millionaire’s tax and to require the state to make pension payments on a regular quarterly basis during the budget year, as Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) urged in legislation introduced yesterday. Democrats previously used the constitutional amendment process to win approval of a minimum wage increase because the governor does not have the power to block such voter initiatives. The more immediate challenge for Christie is the public employee union lawsuit challenging the governor’s Fiscal Year 2015 pension cut that Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson will consider, now that Christie’s veto has put the pension cut into effect. Jacobson last Wednesday rejected a public employee union lawsuit challenging Christie’s right to cut the FY14 pension payment by $900 million, accepting the governor’s argument that a plunge in state income tax revenues discovered in late April left the governor with few options other than the pension cut to fill the FY14 gap. But Jacobson also ruled that the 2010 pension law signed by Christie did create a contractual obligation for the state to make the pension payments required to ramp up over seven years to full actuarially required funding of its pension system by FY18 -- an indication that the judge could order the state to revise the $32.5 billion budget Christie signed yesterday in order to make the full $2.25 billion payment over the next fiscal year. If Jacobson does decide that the scheduled pension payment is a contractual obligation that the state must make this year, and the state Supreme Court ultimately agrees, the state Legislature could be called back into special session to revise the budget either by increasing revenues or by cutting other programs. It is a battle that Democrats would relish. Sweeney, who put his political career on the line when he teamed up with Christie to pass legislation in 2011 suspending cost-of-living increases for retirees and requiring public employees to pay more for their pensions and health benefits, expressed regret that Jacobson didn’t order the state government to restore the $900 million cut from pension funding in the FY14 budget. Prieto declared yesterday that Christie’s “failure to fully fund our pension obligation will push New Jersey closer toward fiscal disaster, and his rejection of tax relief for working families and continued support for tax breaks for millionaires is once again disappointing.” And Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) noted that the failure to make the required FY14 and FY15 pension payments, which will increase the state’s unfunded pension liability from $38 billion to more than $40 billion, pushes New Jersey “one step closer to a moment of reckoning that will be far less palatable than this one.” Christie promised in May when he announced the pension cuts that he would come out with a comprehensive plan by mid-June to cut the state’s pension and retiree health benefit liabilities, which together top $90 billion and are one of the principal reasons that the three bond-rating agencies cut New Jersey’s rating this spring for the second time during Christie’s tenure as governor. However, Christie has yet to come up with a plan, and Kevin Roberts, Christie’s spokesman, yesterday essentially shifted responsibility to the Legislature. “As Gov. Christie has been making clear all year, unless New Jersey’s leaders make the choice to go further with reforms; pension, benefits, and debt costs will overwhelm the State budget, monopolize resources, and threaten the investments and progress New Jersey has made over the past four year,” Roberts said in a statement defending Christie’s budget and pension cuts and his vetoes of the Democratic tax increases. Sweeney, however, hopes that the Legislature’s ability to fully fund the $2.25 billion FY15 pension payment through tax increases on the wealthy and on corporations will demonstrate to Judge Jacobson that there is a viable option to make the scheduled payment in the upcoming fiscal year. Jacobson is unlikely to buy Christie’s argument that it is not his responsibility to begin to pay off the unfunded liability left by the failure of past governors and legislatures to make the necessary pension payments: Not when Christie signed legislation promising to do so. Not when the pension payment schedule agreed upon would allow the unfunded liability to grow to more than $54 billion by FY18, the year the state would finally make the full actuarially required payment -- which it expects to be $4.8 billion. And especially not if Christie fails to offer a long-term plan to fulfill what Jacobson has ruled is a contractual obligation. Public employee union leaders immediately vowed to take legal action to compel Christie to make the required FY15 pension payment. “We will do everything in our power through the courts and legislature to fight for our pensions to be fully funded,” said Patrick Colligan, New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association executive vice president. While the court battle over the pension payments -- and its potential to force Christie and the Legislature to redo the budget -- will draw the most attention this summer, yesterday’s budget also has important implications for Democratic and Republican legislators, particularly the 80 members of the Assembly who will be running for reelection in November 2015, possibly with millionaire’s tax and pension payment constitutional amendments on the ballot. “The governor today spared taxpayers from massive tax hikes that would have decimated our economy,” said Assembly Minority Whip Scott Rumana (R-Passaic). “Increasing taxes on the state’s job creators would have had a ripple effect on our economy resulting in layoffs and higher prices for consumers.” “I think it speaks volumes that the governor’s allies in the legislature voted against this budget because they were more concerned with protecting the people of this state who theoretically might flee since they don’t have to wait around to sell their home here because they can easily afford two,” Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald (D-Camden) countered.