Phil Haines

Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean and Republican members of the Senate Budget Committee Tony Bucco, Kevin O'Toole, Steve Oroho, and Phil Haines have filed a lawsuit against Governor Jon Corzine today at 9:15am. The Governor is violating the State's open public records law by refusing to provide documents that show what budgeted funds Corzine has frozen to address an at least $1.2 billion revenue drop and to pay for more than $100 million in spending bills he signed over the past month. State law appropriately grants the Governor the power to impound budgeted funds, and Corzine has claimed to be using the power, but refuses to say to what extent or to name the funds that will be impacted.

Corzine Continues to Stonewall and Hide Public Documents About Budget Deficit
 
Following the continued failure of Governor Jon S. Corzine to respond as required by law to a December 2, 2008 request for public records made pursuant to New Jersey's Open Public Records Act, Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean and Republican members of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee have announced their intention to file a lawsuit against the Governor to force the immediate release of requested documents.

Corzine Signs Spending Bills Despite $600 Million Deficit

State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) is a possible candidate for Congress against John Adler in 2010

If Republicans can't beat John Adler in 2010, chances are they never will.  If Adler wins a second term, watch for mapmakers to take take some heavily Republican Ocean County towns out of his district when new congressional districts are drawn for the 2012 elections.  Adler scored a 52%-48% victory last week over Republican Christopher Myers for the seat of retiring twelve term U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton -- a seat Democrats hadn't won since 1882.

Republican insiders say that Myers isn't likely to get a second shot at the seat, and that the favorite candidate could be former major league baseball pitcher Al Leiter.  Leiter, a Toms River native who has said he wants to run for office someday, has turned down several offers to seek U.S. Senate and House seats in recent years.  Other possible Adler opponents include: State Sen. Diane Allen (who must first heal wounds in a very fractured Burlington County Republican organization); State Sen. Phil Haines; Assemblywoman Dawn Addiego; Assemblyman Brian Rumpf; and Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly, who lost the '08 GOP primary to Myers.

   Senator Phil Haines, Assemblywoman Dawn Addiego and Assemblyman Scott Rudder said they are greatly concerned that the new toll hikes pushed through today by Governor Corzine and the Trenton Democrats will hurt the state’s fragile economy and force big trucks on to local roads.

            “In the last few days, people have seen their 401K’s drop to 201K’s. Now we’re going to put a driving tax on them?” asked Assemblyman Scott Rudder, a member of the Assembly Transportation Committee.

Senate Minority Leader Ton Kean, Jr. (R-Union), and Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon).: Politicker photo

State Sen. Thomas Kean, Jr., (R-Union) became minority leader just as a new band of hungry Republican legislators came up from the General Assembly to assume their Senate seats.

Another under 40 senator with statewide aspirations might send out at least back channel messages of panic in the face of a baseball roster's worth of new GOP talent.

And indeed there have been some nose-to-nose moments in the last few months since Kean made caucus boss, notably between the patrician leader and the headstrong state Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex).

But according to his colleagues, the stoic Kean has generally met the onrush by embracing it; and has assumed a statesmanlike stance while tapping the scrappy skills honed by his freshmen senators in the lower house.

Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo, one of the sponsors of the Assembly version of paid family leave, which came out of committee today. 

The lobbyists' feeding frenzy continued in Trenton today as representatives from both the business and labor communities zeroed in on lawmakers in the hallways of power and attempted to elicit the promise of a yes or no vote on the issue of paid family leave.

The measure would extend state liability insurance to employees for up to six weeks, enabling workers to care for themselves, a newborn or a sick relative. Funding would come from the workers contributing on average a dollar a week from their salaries.

State Senator Martha Bark is expected to resign her seat on Monday so she can qualify for benefits on January 1. If Bark, who did not seek re-election this year, were to wait until her term expires on January 8, she would not begin receiving benefits until February 1.

Bark’s eighth district seat will remain vacant for the final week of her term – a time when several key issues will be posted for votes during the lame duck session of the Senate. New Jersey law permits Special Election Conventions between 7 and 35 days of the vacancy – so Bark’s term will expire before Burlington County Republicans could legally meet to fill her seat.

Before she launched an uprising in the Burlington County Republican Organization, outgoing Chair Dawn Lacy thought she had secured the support of Sen.-elect Phil Haines. But Haines reneged - and Lacy criticized him for that on Saturday.

Newly chosen as chair of the Burlington County Republican Party, Bill Layton calls on Sen.-elect Phil Haines to stand with him as part of a unified front.