Baroni prepares to fight governor, if that's what it takes
By Max Pizarro, PolitickerNJ.com ReporterUnlike a lot of his party brethren who were all but lining up to give Gov. Jon Corzine Statehouse high fives following his speech, State Sen. Bill Baroni (R-Mercer), emerged from the Assembly chamber today worried about Corzine's budget proposal.
"The governor's targeting rank and file public employees," said Baroni, referring to Corzine's preliminary proposal to scrap three state departments and eliminate up to 5,000 public jobs through a combination of layoffs and early retirements.
Baroni said that as long as Corzine is willing to keep 50% of the political patronage jobs on the state payroll, the senator could not support what he sees as Corzine's balancing act on the backs of civil servants. Many state workers live in Baroni's hometown of Hamilton, which is adjacent to Trenton.
"He hasn't detailed where the cuts wil be and refers in his speech only to 'targeted layoffs,'" said Baroni, who warned the governor that unless there are greater reductions in patronage jobs, Corzine "could have a fight on his hands."
The senator said he has been taking phone calls from state employees and concerned constituents in his home district for several days now.
"We're waiitng for the actual document to be delivered," said Baroni, "but I intend to focus on the political patronage jobs."
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