SWEENEY-BURZICHELLI-RILEY BILL TO ESTABLISH PILOT COUNTY-WIDE TAX ASSESSMENT PROGRAM IN GLOUCESTER SIGNED INTO LAW

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney, Assembly Deputy Speaker John Burzichelli and Assemblywoman Celeste Riley which will create a pilot program in Gloucester County to merge municipal property tax assessors into a countywide office was signed into law yesterday by Governor Corzine.

“New Jersey’s property taxes are too high, and the root of the problem is bloated, inefficient government,” said Senator Sweeney, D-Thorofare. “We can find better ways to provide the same level of services in a more cost-effective manner through shared services and regionalization. In Gloucester County, we’ve already saved millions for county taxpayers through service sharing, and a countywide tax assessment pilot is the next step.”

SWEENEY-RILEY BILL TO GIVE VOTERS CHANCE TO APPROVE OPEN SPACE BONDING SIGNED INTO LAW

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney and Assemblywoman Celeste Riley which will allow voters in November a chance to approve up to $400 million in open space preservation funding was signed into law today by Governor Corzine.

“New Jersey voters have made open space preservation a priority for the last four decades, approving every ballot question put before them, in good economic times and bad,” said Senator Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem. “In New Jersey – the most densely populated state in the nation – every acre of open space is absolutely precious, and we must do everything we can to preserve undeveloped land from suburban sprawl. Through this law, we are once-again asking voters to step up and give us the authority to protect endangered open space for many years to come.”

Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester), left, and Morris County Democratic Party Chairman Lew Candura

PARSIPPANY - Not to be outdone by other political chieftains who went street level this week with state Sen./Mayor Brian P. Stack, Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) gave his blessing to a new community pool in Union City before coming here to GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie's home territory and exhorting Democrats to take the fight to the enemy.

Sweeney's move came just days after Christie improbably walked on New York Avenue with Stack as part of a voter outreach effort in an overwhelmingly Democratic legislative district.

Countering Christie's intrusion into Democratic territory, "We're fighting on Republican turf," Sweeney told a crowd of about 60 Morris County Democrats, some of whom - Diane Weeks of Mendham Twp., for example - describe themselves as Christie's neighbors in this leafy, heavily Republican county.

"This election will be won in the suburban areas - that's where the battle is going to be," said Sweeney, speaking at a picnic in a park next to Lake Parsippany.

A labor pal of Morris County Democratic Committee Chairman Lew Candura's going back 12 years now to his earliest, county level campaigns, Sweeney (who also serves as Gloucester County freeholder director) used his own story as a whiplash on the tables of mostly beleaguered-looking local troops, whose last year's passions for Barack Obama have become this year's dread for the chances of a Democratic incumbent who in mid-summer limps behind Christie by double digits.

State Sen. Minority Whip Kevin O'Toole (R-Cedar Grove), left, confers with state Senator and Union City Mayor Brian P. Stack.

UNION CITY - Among the Republican faithful accompanying GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie as he walked New York Avenue hugging and touching hands in a crowd of 100s of mostly Latino Union City residents Tuesday, was state Sen. Minority Whip Kevin O'Toole (R-Cedar Grove).

Long an ally of Christie's, O'Toole and state Sen. Brian P. Stack (D-Union City) have forged a State House relationship while serving together on the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, and as Stack has for the most part played it coyly up the middle in an ongoing North-South war for control of his party's caucus between Senate President Richard Codey (D-Roseland) and Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester).

Hoping to nudge Stack over to the Sweeney side and keep him there to get rid of old foe Codey - who also appeared in Union City tonight with Stack at the mayor's National Night Out event, incidentally - O'Toole tonight relished Stack's gamesmanship of the gubernatorial race as a street version of how Stack works in Trenton.

SWEENEY BLASTS CHRISTIE FOR REFUSING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN RELIEF FOR UNEMPLOYED NEW JERSEYANS

(WOODBURY) -- Today, State Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) blasted Right Wing Conservative Republican Chris Christie for joining with fellow Right-Wing governors Sarah Palin and Mark Sanford in opposing billions of dollars from President Obama’s economic recovery plan, including over $200 million in extended unemployment benefits.

As they vie for the affections of their peers, and quietly gauge other state senators' interest in who they'd support for the senate presidency, Senate President Richard Codey (D-Roseland) and his prospective challenger from South Jersey, Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester), today each issued statements of support for Gov. Jon Corzine's candidate for governor, their colleague, state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck).

“With his selection of Loretta Weinberg as the first ever candidate for Lieutenant Governor under the Democratic banner, Governor Corzine is making a definitive statement about his priorities in this race," said Codey. "During the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes, we need responsible, compassionate leadership in New Jersey. I believe that the Corzine-Weinberg team has the dedication, commitment and vision to best serve the people of New Jersey moving forward."

Sweeney Statement on Weinberg Selection for Lieutenant Governor

ENGLEWOOD – Senator Majority Leader Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem, issued the following statement today regarding Governor Corzine’s selection of State Senator Loretta Weinberg to be his running mate as the State’s first Democratic candidate for the position of lieutenant governor:

“In the years that we’ve served together in the State Senate, Loretta Weinberg has impressed me as a passionate and capable advocate for the issues that matter most to New Jersey’s citizens.

SWEENEY, BURZICHELLI AND RILEY ANNOUNCE NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION GRANT FOR SALEM CITY

TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney and Assembly Deputy Speaker John Burzichelli and Assemblywoman Celeste Riley announced today that the Stand Up For Salem campaign has been approved for a $25,000 State grant to provide funding for planning and revitalization efforts in the city of Salem.

“As the county seat of Salem County, the city of Salem stands as a visible reminder that we have to support our South Jersey communities which are struggling with the effects of a national and global economic downturn,” said Senator Sweeney, D-Thorofare. “Through this grant, we can support efforts to revitalize Salem’s bustling downtown and encourage new business opportunities and economic rebirth in struggling neighborhoods. These funds will be put to good use, expanding on the progress already made to help revive Salem City’s economy and clean up the streetscape.”

State Sen. Dana Redd (D-Camden)

Sources close to Gov. Jon Corzine have said for months now that he won't pick a white male for lieutenant governor.

Not enough balance.

A week ago three names seemed fairly solid in a firmament that nevertheless shifts daily: state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), state Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen) and Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells.

If the first two were white, they were women, at least. But the fact that they weren't males wasn't the only obvious jump-off-the-page quality they shared.

Both women had reputations as elected officials who wouldn't easily get pushed around. 

Weinberg earned a rep - and endeared herself in the process to Corzine - as an enemy of the Bergen County Democratic Organization, while Buono aggressively sought the budget chairmanship despite efforts by leadership to install somebody more pliant.

Sen. Majority Leader Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester)

Insiders say recurring signs indicate state Sen. Majority Leader Steve Sweeney's (D-West Deptford) ready to challenge state Senate President Richard Codey (D-Roseland) for leadership in November, although Sweeney insists he doesn't know for sure at present.

"Discussions will take place in November," said the South Jersey lawmaker, whose remarks this morning in a 101.5 FM interview that he wants to be senate president "someday" instantly sent reporters' into fullbore Sweeney-seeking mode.

Sources close to Sweeney say there's a strong chance he will challenge the former governor for control of the caucus this year, and political animals add up the following as proof that he's inches away from that battle:  

He threw a bash in Atlantic City at the same time Codey partied with supporters;

He spoke at Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo's fundraiser;

He hauled up to Jersey City for a state Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D-Jersey City) fundraiser;