Kevin O'Toole

Raise taxes on businesses and executives during a recession? Only Job-Killing Jon would propose such a thing.

Senator Calls for Special Hearing Dedicated To Examining How State Will Spend Federal Dollars

Senator Kevin O’Toole (R-Bergen), a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, sent a letter today formally asking Senate President Richard Codey to set aside committee hearings dedicated to examining how New Jersey intends to spend the money it will receive from the federal stimulus package.

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Chris Christie, pictured with wife Mary Pat earlier this month in Somerset County.

CEDAR GROVE - GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie this evening secured the backing of the Essex County Republican Commitee after participating in a screening here with fellow candidates, former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan and Franklin Township Mayor Brian D. Levine.

A fourth gubernatorial candidate, Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham), did not screen, as he is out of the state on business.  

Cedar Grove toes the north end of Essex with its own Jersey spangle of Italian restaurants, VFW Hall, fire, police, shopping center, town hall, diner, Irish taverns, highway overpass, train tracks, more restaurants and bars, blending equal parts Italian and Irish with the business district edge to Italian cuisine, but the Irish colors everywhere. 

This is the domain of state Sen. Kevin O’Toole (R-Cedar Grove), Essex County’s sole Republican legislator, chair of the Essex County Republican Party, and perennial antagonist of Senate President Richard Codey (D-West Orange), who lives just south of here. 

“It’s the little red corner of the county where I’m allowed,” cracked Rick Shaftan, Lonegan’s campaign strategist, as he pulled up to the banquet hall behind the wheel of a sedan in a county where Democrats own a more than 4-1 edge over the GOP.  

Getty Images Photo

Do lines matter in Bergen County? Paul DiGaetano won the 2005 GOP convention, but Douglas Forrester, above, finished 24 percentage points ahead of him in the primary.

Next up on the Republican gubernatorial campaign schedule: Essex County Republicans will hold a Screening Committee on Tuesday evening to award their organization line.  The favorite to win there is former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, who has the support - though not yet officially - of State Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Cedar Grove), the Essex County Republican Chairman.  Look for a list of Essex endorsements for Christie to be released before the screening committee. 

O'Toole and Christie some history together - O'Toole was one of the legislators who attempted to convince Christie to run in 2005.  The political alliance between the former Chief of Staff to Essex County Executive James Treffinger and the man who sent Treffinger to prison as a federal prosecutor is indeed an interesting one. 

And in the land of Republican gubernatorial politics, as goes Essex, so goes Passaic.  So the winner of the Essex screening committee will likely replicate his success in Passaic, where Assemblyman Scott Rumana (R-Wayne), the Passaic County Republican Chairman, is an O'Toole ally. 

A player in the Essex, Bergen and Passaic contests will be former Assembly Majority Leader Paul DiGaetano (R-Nutley), who is the biggest Republican name to have endorsed former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan so far.  DiGaetano moved to Essex County after spending sixteen years as a Passaic City Councilman, and in 2005, he won the Bergen County Republican Convention when he ran for Governor.

If the premise is that we need to protect mediocre incumbents so they will have the resources to fight for us – the middle class, suburban voter and business owner – show me where that effort has been.

GOP Incumbency protection promotes mediocrity.

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."

State Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union)

TRENTON- State Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) wants to change terms for members of the state Senate from four to five years, and when he opens the item up to discussion on the Senate State Government Committee, state Sen. Whip Kevin O’Toole (R-Essex) goes in the opposite direction by broaching the issue of term limits.

“You can’t say New Jersey is a success story,” O’Toole says. “This committee has the opportunity to do something bold."

State Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) doesn’t immediately align herself with O’Toole’s suggestion, but does question lengthening the terms of service of legislators.  She worries about creating even more insular elected offices.

“When you extend the term, you only let the incumbent continue that (natural incumbent) advantage,” Beck says.  “The way our districts are crafted now, it’s very difficult to overturn an incumbent. You have to have a safeguard that you’re not simply crafting a way for those in office to simply stay in office.”

Songwriter Red Mascara

TRENTON - In 1960, Gov. Robert Meyner complained that New Jersey didn’t have an official state song that bands could play when he appeared, so songwriter Red Mascara wrote “I’m from New Jersey,” he tells the Senate State Government Committee.

Mascara’s state song passed both houses of the Legislature in 1972, however, the governor never signed the measure into law and Mascara’s ode to the Garden State dangled into history.

Now, as the state senate committee considers the passage of four official state songs packaged in a bill sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May), an elderly Mascara fights for the inclusion of his song in the official canon.

State Sen. Jim Whelan (D-Atlantic)

TRENTON - The state Senate Committee today passed a bill that would give some towns the option of moving their nonpartisan elections from the second Tuesday in May to the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

The bill specifically targets towns with a population between 17,500 and 26,000 in a second class county or a population of 10,000 of fewer in any county.

State Sen. Jim Whelan (D-Atlantic) moved the bill, state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) seconded the motion, and state Sen. Kevin O’Toole (R-Essex) and state Sen. Nick Scutari (D-Union) joined them in voting in favor of the bill.

Republican fundraiser Joseph Caruso said today that he's "99 percent" sure he's going to mount a primary campaign for a 40th District assembly seat, although pushback from Republican leaders has frustrated his time table.

Caruso said that it's most likely a go if he can get $50,000 on hand by the middle of February, and plans a cocktail reception at his Wayne home this weekend to help meet that goal.

"I'm still doing what I was doing before - seeing how much money I can raise, how much support I can get on the ground, and just really digging through the numbers and making sure it's feasible," he said.  " I'm pretty much there.  I thought I would have more time than I have.