State Senate Leader to Bernards: School Cuts Necessary, End Home Rule

Last Saturday, NJ State Senate majority leader Stephen Sweeney gave a keynote address to the Somerset County Business Partnership at the Verizon center in Basking Ridge. In an exclusive interview with Patch following the event, Sweeney took the time to weigh in on some of the most pressing issues concerning Bernards residents.

School Aid

"It's very simple," Sweeney said in regards to the aid cuts to the Bernards school district. "We just don't have the resources. I understand [residents'] anger, but the only other option is to raise taxes further, and I don't think anyone is excited about doing that."

"We are a state that is in financial crisis, and the only other option [to cuts] is to raise revenues," Sweeney said. "And revenues, typically, is a cute word for taxes."

When asked about the distribution of cuts, with some districts losing much less than the 82 percent Bernards lost for 2010-11, Sweeney said, "I understand and a lot of places got harmed. No one is saying what is going on is fair, it's just the reality of a bad economy."

"The governor is really restricted in the places he could go, so the suburban districts took a larger cut," the senator said.

Sweeney, a Democrat from Gloucester, said in his speech that he has received a lot of criticism for getting along too well with the Republican Governor Chris Christie. "The problems are too large in this state to be Republican and Democrat anymore," Sweeney said. "We've been through that. These things have to stop and we need to focus on the people of New Jersey. If [Christie] gets credit, because the governor always gets the credit … that's ok."

Shared Services

Along with what the state felt were necessary cuts in education and municipal aid, Sweeney said that he was a big proponent of sharing services.

"If we continue to fund programs and government the way we always did, we'll never come out of what we're in." Sweeney said. "When you look around the country where taxes are lower, it's a county system. It's pretty simple."

Bernards Township has made efforts to increase efficiencies by sharing services in areas such as public works, police and health department functions, but also maintains a AAA bond rating, one of only a tiny grouping of municipalities in the country with the rating.

Sweeney said, "I think that's great, but you still can do even better."

Job Creation

The Somerset County Business Partnership listed four reform goals at the event: 1) Reform tax structure to keep businesses and residents in NJ, 2) Reform the public employee pension system to make it more affordable and sustainable, 3) Reform the public sector bargaining system to reflect the public's ability to pay and 4) Reform NJ's dependence on local property taxes.

Sweeney focused much of his message on the first reform, how to bring businesses back to NJ. "I don't think we're going to see a whole lot of jobs for a while," Sweeney said. "The market has responded because we've increased productivity with less people, that's why the market was doing so well. … We need to find new industries and opportunities."

The senator suggested looking into developing clean energy and investing in policies that attract start-ups to the area. Sweeney also said that to have success, the state must reform the business tax culture.

The Great State of NJ

Sweeney stressed one message as extremely important, "New Jersey is a great place."

"I say this every chance I get," Sweeney said. "You have to stop badmouthing New Jersey."

"New Jersey is a great place. It has so many wonderful assets. … There is so much to New Jersey that is positive, you have to stop badmouthing it. And it starts with business communities and elected officials." Sweeney said that issues like location and high population density could make the state very attractive to new businesses. According to the senator, the highest performing Wal-Mart store in the country is located in Turnersville, NJ, for example. "It's the most profitable one they have. You know why? Because they have so many people in a short radius they don't have to have three stores to add up the income of one."

"We have our problems, and we need to fix them; we're going to fix them," Sweeney said. "[But] we all need to start saying New Jersey is a great place."