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Speaking on a conference call a few hours prior to joining congressional candidate Dennis Shulman to appeal to commuters at Hoboken Terminal, Senate President Dick Codey asked what New Jerseyans have to gain by sending U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett (R-Wantage) back for another term.

“If you look at it now, what do we gain by sending Garrett back? People in the Republican Party say he’s a marginal figure, and he’s a marginal figure in the minority,” he said.

The Star-Ledger won’t be administering a polygraph test any time soon.

Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce had said that he would take a lie detector test to verify his account of an argument in which he alleged that Senate President Dick Codey tried to warn him off of pursuing details about a legislative slush fund through a mix of threats and temptations with state funds.

But since Codey has refused to take the test, DeCroce told the paper that he would not agree to take it either. 

Attention commuters: make sure there’s room in your pockets for plenty of campaign literature, because the Hoboken train station is going to be a hotbed of political activity on this election eve.

As previously reported, Senate President Dick Codey will be at the station during the evening rush to campaign for 5th District Democratic congressional candidate Dennis Shulman.  Now U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) has decided to join up as well.

And while the three Democrats press their case, Shulman’s rival, U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett (R-Wantage) is also scheduled to be at Hoboken Terminal tonight to campaign for reelection. 

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SENATE GREENLIGHTS CODEY-BUONO BILL TO AID STRUGGLING BUSINESSES, ATTRACT NEW INVESTMENTS

TRENTON – The full Senate today approved a bill sponsored by Senate President Richard J. Codey and Senator Barbara Buono that would aid struggling businesses during the current economic crisis, and help New Jersey’s business environment remain competitive with other neighboring states. The Senate approved bill S-2130, which would increase the time period in which a net operating loss (NOL) can be deducted from a corporation’s business tax, from seven to twenty years.

“Now more than ever, this bill is desperately needed,” said Senator Codey (D-Essex). “With many businesses struggling and others facing still unforeseen losses, we need to do all we can to help them weather the storm. This bill will also help New Jersey stay competitive with many of our neighboring states that have similar provisions. Hopefully, it will also encourage new businesses to set up shop here and promote further investment.”

While New Jersey suffered from a crippling structural deficit, politicians created a slush fund to dole out tax dollars for their own personal gain.

Last week at the corruption trial of disgraced former state Sen. Wayne Bryant, a Democratic legislative aide testified that Bryant and other legislators were given complete discretion over the allocation of millions of dollars in the state budget -- from a fund that was supposed to be distributed based on a competitive, merit-based application process. Prosecutors allege that Bryant directed some of his share to the School of Osteopathic Medicine at UMDNJ in exchange for a no-show, pension-boosting job.

The separation of powers were non-existent in 2005 when the budget's $40 million slush fund was proposed by then-acting Gov. Dick Codey and ushered through the legislature by Senate President Codey (a prior budget from then-Gov. Jim McGreevey also included such a fund). Governor Jon Corzine shut the scheme down within months of taking office after conducting an internal investigation, the results of which are still not public.

Reacting to news that certain state legislators were given sole discretion on where millions of dollars in state funds were spent, State Sen. Leonard Lance – who was Senate Minority Leader at the time – said it was outrageous, and made other scandals about “Christmas tree” items inserted into the budget look tame.

Lance said he was not a beneficiary of the program.

“We voted against the budget and we were railing against the Christmas tree items. But I think this goes beyond that. I haven’t examined it fully, but…. that’s an extremely bad procedure,” said Lance. “We haven’t been involved in the Christmas Tree process, but if someone outright says I want something for my district and it’s there in black and white, we can have a debate back and forth. But this is even worse because it’s done behind closed doors.”