Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney

TRENTON –  Senate Majority Leader Stephen M. Sweeney today said if credit unions in the State get access to public deposits of government funds, it will boost the New Jersey economy and help fight the credit crunch locally.

            “The infusion of funds from public deposits will enable credit unions to provide more loans to their members and help struggling small businesses,” said Senator Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Salem and Cumberland.

TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem released the following statement today, regarding the signing of the “Public Employee Pension and Benefits Reform Act of 2008.”

            “The signing of this legislation reaffirms the Legislature’s commitment to protecting the benefits of the State’s current workforce. This new law is the product of a bipartisan effort to bring real pension relief to the hard-working men and women of New Jersey, and I’d like to thank the leadership, Senators Buono, Scutari, Kean and O’Toole and the rest of my colleagues in the Legislature for their help in crafting this legislation.               “As a union official, I have heard quite a few members tell me to ‘negotiate, not legislate.’  Unfortunately, the irresponsible acts of the legislature and union leaders in the 1990’s , along with additional changes in legislation in 2001, which were done without any real dollars to cover the cost of the enhancements, have put the State in a financial bind.  These irresponsible decisions placed the State’s pension system in a financial crisis, and it would be absolutely unfair to ask taxpayers to shoulder the additional costs. 

TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Stephen M. Sweeney today called on the Department of Education to determine if it can block a then-secret 2003 contract authorized by the Keansburg Board of Education which granted a severance package of more than $740,000 for its retiring school superintendent, Barbara Trzeszkowski, when she steps down next month.

            “I expect strong support for this probe of an outrageous breach of public trust which all taxpayers of New Jersey will be paying off for years,” said Senator Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem. “The Department needs to explain how this was allowed to happen even if the reforms we’ve made since will prevent its recurrence.”

TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Stephen M.