Joe Pennacchio

Republican members of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee issued the following statement on S-2507, a bill that will cut state aid for school districts based on how much they save by not making full payments into the state pension fund for their non-teaching employees. The bill will be considered by the committee today:

"Republican members of the Budget and Appropriations Committee today reaffirm their unwavering opposition to Governor Corzine's scheme to deplete the pension funds," said Anthony Bucco, Republican Budget Officer. "I have asked the chairwoman to delay the committee's vote on this bill so that the pension provisions can be eliminated from this bill. If they aren't removed, we will vote against the bill."

"We owe it to taxpayers and retirees to seriously discuss alternatives to shortchanging the pensions. As written, this bill will ultimately cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and threaten the secure retirement promised to government employees," said Kevin O'Toole, Republican Senate Whip.

"It's long past time for Governor Corzine to stop kicking this state's fiscal problems down the road, and come up with common-sense solutions to New Jersey's budget problems," Senator Phil Haines said.

"This pension gimmick is the ultimate example of the irresponsible budget 'one shots' that the governor repeatedly promised not to support," said Senator Joseph Pennacchio.

"Governor Corzine has offered a false choice between shortchanging school kids or short-changing public employees when he should first cut the bloated budget for patronage hires to balance this budget."

"Years of gimmicks have created a disaster whereby only about 50 percent of the roughly $120 billion in state pension liability is covered today by the value of pension assets," Senator Steve Oroho said. "If the gimmicks don't stop, this system will go broke."

Republicans Call on Corzine To Do the Same

During a speech today, President-Elect Barack Obama stated his support for greater transparency of government spending by posting their financial transactions online. Senator Joe Pennacchio (R-Morris/Passaic) introduced legislation last year (Senate Bill 445) that would create a user-friendly Web site enabling all New Jersey residents to see how their state tax dollars are being spent.

State Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-Montville) is not satisfied with the response to his OPRA requests to the Treasury Department, claiming that any substantive discussion about why the state invested in the troubled Lehman Brothers financial firm was blacked out in the documents provided to him. 

Pennacchio is investigating how the government lost hundreds of millions in pension funds by investing in Lehman Brothers before its collapse.  He had previously complained that his requests were ignored. 

Thee wrangling over the aftermath of the state’s decision to invest $178 million in Lehman Brothers stock before the company collapsed took a messy turn today.

A complaint about a perceived lack of response to an OPRA request filed on behalf of state Sen. Joe Pennacchio turned into a debate on whether Pennacchio was putting the diversity of the State Investment Council in jeopardy.

In a press release, Pennacchio accused the Treasury Department of stonewalling a Republican staffer’s OPRA request, saying that it was ironic that the department was more concerned about collecting $79.50 in OPRA-related costs than investigating why it invested millions in a troubled company.

“It is obvious that we are being stonewalled,” said Pennacchio. “New Jersey’s citizens have a right to know why and how the Investment Council lost $115 of $178 million invested in a short period of time this summer prior to the sub-prime market collapse. The Lehman’s investment had huge risks and there were obvious personal ties to the New Jersey Investment Council when this failed decision was made. I wish the Treasury was as concerned with the $178 million investment as they are with getting $79.50 from an elected official doing his job.”

Senator Joe Pennacchio (R-26), sponsor of S-445, discussing The Transparency in Government Act. Pennacchio is joined by Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean (R-21) and Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform.

View the video on SenateNJ.com.

$400 Million Tax Hike May Be in Store

Senator Joe Pennacchio (R-26), a member of the Senate Labor Committee, expressed his disappointment that no one from the Department of Labor was made available to answer questions regarding New Jersey's unemployment compensation fund during today's committee hearing.

State Sen. Joe Pennacchio’s (R-Montville) call for Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson to resign will not likely be answered in the affirmative, but whether Wilson will serve another two-year term is uncertain.

After Wilson’s term expires in June, tradition dictates that the Republican gubernatorial nominee gets to pick the next chairman. That choice will be ratified by the 42-member Republican State Committee, which will likely accede to the nominee’s pick.

“We have a tradition in the Republican Party that the successful gubernatorial nominee is the one who gets to decide who his or her state chair will be,” said Wilson, who said he did not want to respond to Pennacchio’s press release. “I expect that not to be any different. If there’s a nominee who wants to ask me if I’m interested in staying, that will be a discussion between that nominee and I.”

However, multiple Republican sources say that Wilson has never intended to seek another term as state chairman. In fact, there was talk of him stepping down before the primary, although he said today that he will serve until at least June.

Wilson, for his part, said that his decision in June will depend on “who that nominee is and what kind of vision they have going forward.”

"I will defer completely to the nominee, and if that person wants someone different that’s what they’re entitled to. If they want me to stick around for some period of time, we’ll have a discussion about that.”

State Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-Montville)

Citing the need for the state party to follow the national party’s lead and start renewing itself, state Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-Montville) today called on Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson to resign.

“Soon we will have a new spokesperson leading our RNC. It is imperative that New Jersey Republicans waste no time in following suit,” he said in a press release this morning. “Our recent overwhelming losses reinforce the urgent need to change leadership and create a new direction with a purpose and direction for our party.”

Pennacchio, a dentist by trade, has been publicly critical of his party’s leadership ever since they refused to back his U.S. senate bid, instead running through a series of potential choices before settling on Goya heir Andy Unanue and ultimately former Rep. Dick Zimmer. Pennacchio has publicly seethed about the perceived slight, giving up his delegate spot at the Republican National Convention because he didn’t want to “party with the party leaders” who he felt pushed him aside. But up to this point Pennacchio has kept his criticism vague, refusing to single anyone out by name.

"One can argue that Mr. Wilson has put forth his best effort. I disagree. Regardless, it is not efforts but results that we must hold our State Chairman to,” said Pennacchio “Continued losses over his tenure and lack of a unified message of purpose and direction leads to the reasonable conclusion that immediate leadership change is warranted and necessary."

Two state senators today endorsed Assemblyman Mike Doherty (R-Washington) to replace outgoing State Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Flemington).

The moderate state Sen. Kevin O’Toole (R-Cedar Grove) said that Doherty “has worked diligently both in his district and across the state to represent the principles and values of the Republican Party.”

State Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-Montville), a conservative, called Doherty a “gallant fighter for conservative principles.”  Pennacchio received Doherty’s endorsement for his own U.S. Senate campaign earlier this year after Doherty decided not to run.

State Senator Joe Pennacchio asks how two top Lehman executives and one former Lehman executive on New Jersey's investment council could have let the state lose more than $115 million in three months investing in the now-bankrupt Wall Street investment bank.