Corzine defends pro-union move Saturday, December 09, 2006 • By MARTIN C. BRICKETTO • The Express-Times TRENTON | Gov. Jon Corzine defended taking key public employee reforms out of the Legislature's hands and said he was now responsible for pushing for many of those proposals in contract negotiations with unions. "I am not gutting the special session," Corzine said Friday. Corzine denied assertions that he folded under pressure from state worker unions, which have often said the changes being mulled by legislators in a special session on reducing the state's property taxes should be decided at the bargaining table. Bob Master, legislative director for the Communications Workers of America, declined to say if he thought union leaders would be any more receptive to the changes coming from Corzine instead of legislators. State worker contracts expire in July. "How those discussions turn out is a matter of negotiation," Master said. "The governor has taken up the burden and he needs to make some presentations to use about how he wants to deal with the issues." Union members from across New Jersey are still expected to rally in Trenton on Monday as the Legislature considers a host of reforms intended to lower property taxes. In a move that befuddled lawmakers, Corzine on Thursday requested that a bill on the verge of a vote in the Legislature be overhauled, exempting unionized workers from reforms related to how pensions are calculated. Corzine said leaving those reforms to negotiations would give him more flexibility, but encouraged legislators to move forward on elements of the bill targeting abuses by appointed and elected officials. The state is grappling with a funding gap of at least $18 billion in its future pension obligations. "I believe that negotiating process will get us both cost savings and structural reform." Corzine said. "It has to take place." The bill was spurred by one of four joint committees that spent four months studying public employee benefits and issued a report with 41 recommendations in November. The legislation now includes just 13 of those proposals, mostly addressing future officials. Some committee recommendations such as increasing the retirement age from 55 to 62 had already been left to negotiations before Corzine's request Thursday. Senate Minority Leader Leonard Lance, R-Hunterdon/Warren, said Friday he was disappointed by Corzine's actions. "I believe at the very least we should be able to discuss them in the context of the Legislature," Lance said. Assemblyman Paul Moriarty, D-Gloucester, said he was "disappointed and perplexed at the same time." While not a member of the joint committee, Moriarty was among lawmakers who sparked union protests earlier this year by proposing sweeping reforms to public employee pensions and benefits in the heat of budget talks. "I thought we spent the last four months working on this issue and coming up with recommendations," Moriarty said. "If the governor didn't want us to act on these, maybe he should have notified us four months ago." Conceding to the governor's request, Democratic leaders in the Legislature said this week that they had no intention of advancing a bill that would only be shot down by Corzine. On Friday, Corzine took responsibility for a "breakdown in communication." Corzine also suggested the Legislature may opt to act twice on pension and benefits reforms: once in the near future in regard to appointed and elected officials and again after a contract is hammered out with unions. "I would expect that once there is a collective bargaining agreement, that it would be confirmed in statute," Corzine said. Martin C. Bricketto is Trenton correspondent for The Express-Times. He can be reached at 609-292-5154. © 2006 The Express-Times. Used by NJ.com with permission.