Wednesday, December 22, 2010

NJ Democrats Block Shared Services Measures

New Jersey Senate Republicans attempted to force consideration of eight unfinished toolkit bills during Monday’s voting session, including those that dealt would greatly encourage shared services among towns and school districts. The bills were unanimously opposed by Senate Democrats when motions were made to consider them on the floor. In reference to shared services, the Democrats declined the GOP's motions to take up the following pieces of legislation:

S-2024 (Kyrillos)- Provides latitude to local government bodies to combine workforces/services
Goal: To encourage greater sharing of services among municipalities by easing workforce consolidation rules.

S-2025 (Kyrillos)- Requires executive county superintendents to expand sharing of services among school districts


Goal: To take advantage of cost saving opportunities between school districts by sharing certain services and functions where possible and appropriate.

For good measure, Senate Democrats also opposed considering legitimate Civil Service Reform:

S-2039 (Bateman)- Civil Service Reform/Local Opt Out

Goal: To provide meaningful civil service reform that affords local governing bodies greater layoff and furlough authority, as well as the opportunity to opt out of a system first conceived prior to modern collective bargaining and labor law employee protections.

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