Overall view from the gallery as the senate begins their session at the Statehouse in this Star-Ledger file photo. TRENTON — After months of largely having his way with the Legislature, Gov. Chris Christie Monday found himself in the unusual position of having to compromise.
Faced with the possibility the Democrat-controlled Senate would vote to subpoena Republican Christie’s records and advisers in its probe of how New Jersey lost out on $400 million in federal education funding, the governor hastily arranged a deal with Senate President Stephen Sweeney to turn over records he previously declined to release.
Another Democratic challenge to Christie — a vote to override the governor’s veto of a bill to provide $7.5 million for women’s health clinics — fell short Monday in the Senate.
The fights highlight the increasing tension between the governor and the Legislature in the first year political control of the Statehouse has been split since 1993.
Christie’s office declined to discuss Monday’s rapid-fire events. The governor’s spokesman, Michael Drewniak, said the administration would "expect to meet the schedule" to send records to the Legislature.
Sweeney (D-Gloucester) did not issue a public declaration of victory, but said lawmakers got what they want.
"We’re not looking for a political circus," Sweeney told reporters on the Senate floor. "We’re looking for answers. All we wanted was some information and he’s providing that now."
Last month, the administration lost its bid for funding from the Race to the Top program because of an error in the application. The mistake and its aftermath led Christie to fire his education commissioner, Bret Schundler.
Struggling to find their footing against a popular, articulate and combative rookie governor, Democrats in the Legislature seized on the blunder by holding hearings, requesting records and calling for administration officials to testify.
The legislative response to the funding loss was to grow even more serious Monday with Sen. Majority Leader Barbara Buono’s plan for the Senate to take the rare step of granting itself the power to subpoena records and testimony from administration officials. The move was certain to lead to a court fight in which Christie was expected to resist at least some of what was to be subpoenaed because of "executive privilege."
The confrontation, however, was avoided, after Christie summoned Sweeney for a private chat. At the same time, a number of key Democratic senators said they would support only limited subpoena power, effectively undercutting Buono’s push.
"I have a reluctance to bring in members of the administration on something that, I think, doesn’t rise to the level of strong malfeasance," said Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex), who was governor in 2004 and 2005. "I just didn’t think it was worth the fight over this particular issue."
After a nearly two-hour delay, the Senate came into session. With news of the subpoena compromise buzzing through the Statehouse, Democrats in the upper chamber took out their partisan knives over another hotly contested issue: the governor’s veto of $7.5 million in women’s health care funds. Democrats criticized Christie and his allies in the Legislature who first supported the funding but then wouldn’t buck the governor and vote to override, which failed as expected.
NJ State Senator Loretta Weinberg (D) tries to convince other senators to vote to override Gov. Chris Christie's veto during session Monday afternoon. Looking across the aisle at her Republican colleagues, Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), said, "This is not an issue of party loyalty. This is not an issue of being loyal to the governor. This is an issue about women’s health, about poor women, about under-insured women, about women’s access" to health care.
The last time the executive and legislative branches of government were controlled by opposing parties was during the final two year of Gov. Jim Florio’s term in 1992 and 1993.
Florio’s spokesman at the time, Jon Shure, said it’s logical Democratic lawmakers would try to highlight their differences with Christie even as they spent time talking about how bipartisan they could be.
Democrats "need to find ways to differentiate themselves. The Legislature can’t be a rubber stamp for a governor it doesn’t agree with, so legislators need to decide where they can get political advantage," Shure said.
By Matt Friedman and Josh Margolin/Statehouse Bureau
No comments:
Post a Comment