WILL CORZINE RETURN AS A REFORMER?

by David P. Rebovich

Jon Corzine is out of the hospital, engaged in a lengthy rehabilitation program, and planning to return to his duties as Governor of New Jersey. Whether Corzine returns sooner - in a few weeks - or later - in a few months -, Democrats in the State House will try to get through the budget season as smoothly as possible. With more direct property tax relief, state aid to schools and colleges, and no new taxes, the Governor's budget proposal is not the worst platform for Democratic legislators to run for reelection on this fall. And Corzine's recuperation can be used to explain why the Democratic-controlled state government has not done more to address New Jersey's many pressing problems.

The question that remains, however, is, will Corzine resume pursuing the reform agenda that he campaigned on and has made theme of his Administration when he returns to office? Before answering that question, it is necessary to examine what precisely Corzine's reform agenda is, how much progress has been made on that agenda, and what remains to be done.

The latter was the charge of a panel at the recent Association of Government Accountants/American Society for Public Administration symposium on "Government Efficiencies: Retooling for Tomorrow" at Trenton's Marriott Hotel. THE STAR LEDGER'S Tom Moran, Mark Murphy of the Fund for New Jersey, Michael Riccards of the Hall Institute for Public Policy, William Rodgers of the Bloustein School and Heldrich Center at Rutgers University, and I were the participants on the panel. We were assisted by a large audience of savvy public sector professionals from a variety of departments and agencies in state government.

As a candidate and as Governor Corzine has been clear and consistent about what he wants to accomplish in the State House. He is committed to brining fiscal integrity and ethical integrity to government and politics in New Jersey, and long-term property tax reform - not just relief - for nearly all homeowners. In addition, he has touted an "affordability agenda" for moderate and low income residents and support for "progressive" policies on social issues.

What do the various components of this ambitious agenda mean? Fiscal integrity means ending the state's dependence on one-shot gimmicks to balance its budget, making the budget process more transparent, seeking efficiencies in operations and purchasing, and evaluating the effectiveness of government programs. To achieve long-term fiscal health, state government must encourage economic growth through tax policy, targeted spending, and regulatory reform. Such growth will hopefully provide the revenue for state government to meet its obligations to the public workers pension and health insurance funds and to building and refurbishing schools in the Abbott districts.

By ethical integrity, Corzine means appointing better qualified people to government posts, providing better ethics training for personnel, and then ending pay to play at all levels of government, wheeling, and dual office-holding for not just future officeholders but current ones, too. Regarding property tax reform, the Governor hopes to control the spending increases that drive up local levies by several methods. These include establishing fairly strict caps, creating a new office of the comptroller to ferret out waste, encouraging the consolidation and regionalization of services and perhaps jurisdictions, giving county superintendents more power over local school budgets, putting public workers' benefits more in line with what private sectors workers receive, and creating a new, more fair school funding formula.

The Governor's affordability agenda is aimed at providing the following: health coverage to the 1.2 million uninsured New Jerseyans; 100,000 additional affordable housing units in ten years; more college tuition aid; all day kindergarten; universal pre-school; and, more jobs for working class folks. Corzine also supports civil unions among same-sex couples, stronger environmental regulations to reduce New Jersey's contribution to the greenhouse effect, and helping abused and needy children.

How much progress has Corzine made on his broad reform agenda? Well, he has reduced reliance on one-shot budget gimmicks and has cut the size of the structural deficit by a few billion dollars. The Governor is also committed to making a sizable payment into the public workers pension fund, a fiscally responsible and necessary move. He has also taken on the state worker unions in the recent contract negotiations and saved taxpayers money by getting state workers to pay more for health care benefits. As Moran and Murphy both noted, Corzine's real accomplishment here was getting the unions to accept state subsidization of health care benefits as subject to negotiations.

However, state spending is still increasing faster than revenues. Moran is worried that public sector jobs in New Jersey continue to increase in real terms and as a percentage of population. Murphy claims that the Governor's asset monetization plan will improve the state's fiscal condition but not eradicate the mismatch between the state's revenues and spending. In the meantime, New Jersey's economy is still at a competitive disadvantage, and the state continues to lose good paying jobs. As Murphy put it, "It's hard for a Governor to change an economy" even with a new economic development czar.

To make matters worse, New Jersey must deal with a crumbling transportation infrastructure, the need for new schools in Abbott districts, and ultimately making the public workers pension fund flush. While most other states are debating what to do with their budget surpluses, New Jersey officials are hoping that revenues meet their projections. If not, cuts may have to be made in Corzine's budget proposal.

The panelists were also concerned that the Governor's property tax relief plan will be hard to sustain given the state's continuing fiscal challenges. Rodgers sees the Administration as sincerely committed to achieving more efficiencies and to making priority programs more effective. That being said, the Governor should not forget his commitment to equity. While middle and upper-middle income taxpayers will get property tax relief checks that average over $1,000, many lower income residents still lack health insurance and decent housing. Should that tax relief money be used to help the truly needy who, as the Governor has said, should be government's first concern? On Corzine's recommendation, a new Department of Children and Families has been created that he believes will help the state fulfill its obligations to needy and abused youngsters.

Ethics reform is another area where more work needs to be done. Riccards believes that state officials must focus on improving New Jersey's political culture. Gubernatorial passivity in dealing with political bosses and businesses, groups and individuals trying to influence government only reinforces people's cynicism about politics in the Garden State. Moran noted that Corzine has shown a willingness to confront some of the questionable elements of his own party, e.g., Sharpe James' attempt to create a slush fund with state money and Joe Ferriero's effort to squeeze Loretta Weinberg out of office.

But Moran thinks ethics reform in the Administration has been a big disappointment thus far because regional party bosses still have pay to play and wheeling. If the Governor's fellow Democrats in the legislature resist enacting the comprehensive reform that Corzine is calling for, Moran recommends that the Governor seek support from Republicans. A bipartisan approach to dealing with major issues? Now that's another reform that would do the state a lot of good.

David P. Rebovich, Ph.D., is Managing Director of the Rider University Institute for New Jersey Politics (www.rider.edu/institute). He also writes a regular column, "On Politics," for NEW JERSEY LAWYER and monthly reports on New Jersey for CAMPAIGNS AND ELECTIONS Magazine.