The State Senate has a quorum call at noon today, with five committees scheduled to meet.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet at 11AM to consider the nominations of Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff as State Treasurer and Robert Czech to head the state Civil Service Commission.

The Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee will meet at 9:30 AM to consider a package of four bills dealing with public employees.  State Sen. James Whelan (D-Atlantic City), the committee chairman, has requested that testimony be limited to five minutes due to the large number of persons expected to testify on these bills: S-2, which makes various pension system changes concerning eligibility, retirement allowance formula, compensation definition, position eligible for service credit, non-forfeitable rights, enrollment waiver, prosecutors part, PFRS special retirement, employer contributions; S-3, which various changes to SHBP and SEHBP concerning eligibility, cost sharing, choice of plan, application of benefit change, waiver of coverage, and multiple coverage; S-4, which makes various changes concerning payments to public employees for unused sick leave, sick leave injury in State service, and PERS and TPAF disability retirement; and SCR1, which amends State Constitution to require annual contributions by the State to State-administered retirement system.

The State Senate has a quorum call at noon on Thursday, with five committees scheduled to meet.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet at 11AM to consider the nominations of Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff as State Treasurer and Robert Czech to head the state Civil Service Commission.

The Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee will meet at 9:30 AM to consider a package of four bills dealing with public employees.  State Sen. James Whelan (D-Atlantic City), the committee chairman, has requested that testimony be limited to five minutes due to the large number of persons expected to testify on these bills: S-2, which makes various pension system changes concerning eligibility, retirement allowance formula, compensation definition, position eligible for service credit, non-forfeitable rights, enrollment waiver, prosecutors part, PFRS special retirement, employer contributions; S-3, which various changes to SHBP and SEHBP concerning eligibility, cost sharing, choice of plan, application of benefit change, waiver of coverage, and multiple coverage; S-4, which makes various changes concerning payments to public employees for unused sick leave, sick leave injury in State service, and PERS and TPAF disability retirement; and SCR1, which amends State Constitution to require annual contributions by the State to State-administered retirement system.

State Sen. James Whelan (D-Atlantic City) is slated to become the new chairman of the Senate State Government Committee, according to sources familiar with the legislative transition process.  Whelan will succeed Nicholas Scutari (D-Linden), who will be Judiciary Chairman after Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge) moves to Appropriations to replace Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen), the new Senate Majority Leader.  Incoming Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford) will eliminate the Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee now chaired by Whelan and fold the gaming and tourism industries into the State Government panel.

Two Republican Assemblymen from Atlantic County are touting each other as possible challengers to State Sen. James Whelan (D-Atlantic City) in 2011.

"We need a bright guy to move into the Senate position who has a career ahead of him, and that's Vince Polistina," said John Amodeo (R-Margate). "What we've seen recently is all the work has been done out of this office, not the other office."

But Polistina (R-Egg Harbor Twp.) thinks Amodeo should be considered for the Senate seat.
 
"It's really early," Polistina added. "We're both focused on going back to Trenton. I think John Amodeo would be a fabulous candidate for the state senate. He has a very diverse background to do that job."

Amodeo and Polistina trounced their Democratic opponents last month in their bids for re-election to second terms in the Assembly.  Whelan won the Senate seat in 2007, defeating short-term incumbent James "Sonny" McCullough (R-Egg Harbor Twp.).

The two GOP legislators say that the concentration of Atlantic City gaming power in the hands of billionaires Carl Icahn and Leon Blackmight not be optimal, but the economic terrain right now is so bad that any local investment and improvement is positive.
 
"We want our casinos to thrive," said Amodeo. "We can't take a hit anywhere. We always want a positive note out of Atlantic City, and whatever we can do to promote our industry and tourism utilizing Atlantic City, it's a positive note.
 
"You're in a situation where you can't shut anything down," added the Assemblyman. "The original deregulation that came in in the 1990s started changing the face of Atlantic City and took much of the competitiveness away. But with the economy we're in right now, we're in a tough situation. This (acquisition of Tropicana by Carl Icahn) is is going to keep things moving forward generally speaking. Whether the concentration good or not, we need to promote our industry and keep gaming open."

The streets drawn on a famous board game come straight out of Atlantic City, whose economic engine would now more than ever embody monopoly if a U.S. Bankruptcy Court approves the sale of another Atlantic City casino to billionaire corporate raider Carl Icahn.  Icahn is seeking to add the Tropicana and the Taj Mahal to his gaming portfolio.

Control of eight out of Atlantic City's eleven casinos concentrated in the hands of just two investors bothers Senate Gaming and Tourism Committee Chairman James Whelan (D-Atlantic City), "but I don't know if you can get the genii back in the bottle."
 
A state law allowing an individual to own more than three casinos changed over a decade ago.
 
"I was opposed to changing the law back then, and I testified before the committee," Whelan said. "The Harrah's property and Caesar's (both owned by Leon Black) have more than held their own compared to other properties, but Harrah's corporately is struggling, and that impacts on their ability to get capital to invest here."
 
If the bankruptcy court approves the sale to Icahn, he would have the three additional casino properties, in addition to the Tropicana.
 
"Frankly, judging by his record with Sands we didn't see a lot of money going from Icahn to Sands, so, yes, I'm bothered, but at this point you can't get the genii back in bottle," said Whelan, a former Mayor of Atlantic City. "I don't see how you can roll it back to where they can only have three. Four opened the door for economic concentration of this kind."

Election results in three South Jersey districts offer some hope to Republicans as they look to regain control of the State Senate in 2011, even as local powerhouse Stephen Sweeney moves closer to becoming the next Senate President. 

In the Atlantic County-based District 2, freshmen GOP Assemblymen John Amodeo and Vincent Polistina won re-election by more than 10,000 votes, setting up a potentially competitive State Senate race for one of them against Democrat James Whelan in two years.  Whelan ousted short-term incumbent James "Sonny" McCullough in 2007.  Christopher Christie carried Atlantic County by 2,423 votes, 49%-45%; four years ago, Jon Corzine won it by 6,535, 53%-43%.

In District 4, which includes parts of Camden and Gloucester counties, Republican Domenick DiCicco won an open State Assembly seat.  DiCicco immediately becomes the GOP's best hope to unseat Democrat Frederick Madden in the next election.  There has been considerable speculation that Madden won't seek a third term in 2011, and that Assemblyman Paul Moriarty will run for the Senate.  Christie carried the fourth district.

Two '09 State Assembly races are pivotal for Republicans as they seek to win back control of the State Senate in 2011.  The GOP needs to oust Democratic Assemblymen Nelson Albano and Matthew Milam in the first district, with the hope that one of the newly-elected Republican legislators, perhaps Michael Donohue or John McCann, will challenge freshman Democratic State Sen. Jefferson Van Drew.  Van Drew, who runs well in GOP-dominated Cape May County, unseated Republican State Sen. Nicholas Asselta in 2007.

Republicans still see Freeholder Leonard Desiderio, the Mayor of Sea Isle, as a strong contender for the Senate.  Desiderio declined to run for the Assembly this year.  Another possible candidate is U.S. Marshal James Plousis, who is a former Cape May County Sheriff.  Plousis is currently on holdover status while U.S. Senators Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg consider possible candidates.

The other seat the GOP wants back is in the second district, where Democrat James Whelan unseated incumbent James "Sonny" McCullough in 2007.  McCullough had won a special election convention earlier that year when Bill Gormley retired after 25 years in the Senate.  Republicans need to make sure their two freshmen Assemblymen, Vincent Polistina and John Amodeo, win re-election (they are favored), so that one of them is positioned to take on Whelan in two years.

Assemblyman Vince Polistina (R-Egg Harbor Township) felt the target slapped on his forehead by Democrats the day after he was elected in the 2nd Legislative District in 2007.

"They'll start spending a fortune and putting us on network TV - more of the same as what we saw in 2007," he said. 

Yesterday, Polistina and his running mate, Assemblyman John Amodeo (R-Margate) kicked off their reelection campaign at a firehouse in Egg Harbor Township.  Just as Republicans will likely sink many of their limited resources into recapturing assembly seats in neighboring District 1, Democrats are expected to pour considerable funds into this Atlantic County dominated district, where state Sen. James Whelan (D-Atlantic City) pulled off a solid victory over Republican Sonny McCullough in 2007, but didn't pull his running mates, Joe Wilkins and Blondell Spellman, across the finish line. 

Polistina said that he's been made to feel unwelcome by Democrats in Trenton, and said that his reception by the party in power has been a disappointing experience. 

"Thy don't want us there, they don't want to talk to us if they don't have to, and they would like nothing more than to get us out of the General Assembly," he said.

Gov. Jon Corzine has a potential problem in South Jersey, where a new Quinnipiac University poll shows him trailing former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie by five points, 42%-37%. The poll defines the South Jersey region as Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.  In 2005, Corzine beat Republican Douglas Forrester in this part of the state by 49,825 votes, a 56%-44% margin, and lost only in Cape May County.

In South Jersey, Corzine has a favorable/unfavorable rating of 43%-43%, and an upside-down approval rating of 42%-44%.  Nearly half the voters (47%) say he does not deserve to be re-elected, and 70% say they are dissatisfied with the direction New Jersey is headed. 

Against conservative Steven Lonegan, the former Mayor of Bogota, Corzine is ahead by nine points, 42%-33%, among South Jersey voters - not a great showing against a Republican whose name is not recognized by 88% of the region's voters.

Some Democrats suggest that Corzine could boost his chances in the region by picking a South Jerseyan for Lieutenant Governor.  And some Republicans think Christie could enhance his lead by doing the same thing.

Atlantic County Freeholder Alisa Beth Cooper will seek the Democratic nomination for State Assembly in the second district, according to a report by South Jersey radio personality Harry Hurley.  Cooper was re-elected to a second term as Freeholder last month.  A former Republican, she is the daughter of the late Delores Cooper, who served many years as a Republican Assemblywoman from Atlantic County. TheGOP  incumbents are both freshmen: Vincent Polistina and John Amodeo.  State Sen. James Whelan is opposed to Cooper's nomination, Hurley says.