Senate Moves on Measure to Grant Political Appointees Big Raises

There’s a new governor in Trenton, and Senate President Steve Sweeney thinks that means it’s a good time to bring up an old plan to grant raises to some of the state’s top political appointees.

Sweeney has introduced a measure that would boost the pay of judges, prosecutors, Cabinet members and legislative staff, according to Politico. The senate president argues that some of the people covered by his bill haven’t received a raise in a decade. And while New Jersey is famously cash-strapped and over-taxed, Sweeney maintains such raises are small potatoes in a $35 billion state budget.

“It’s a little bit of money to ensure you try to maintain quality people in those positions,” the senate president said in the report.

The measure is similar to a plan put forth under Gov. Chris Christie.

But that legislation stalled when Christie insisted on a deal that included the legislature allow him to profit from a book deal while in office and do away with the requirement that all public notices be published in newspapers—a stance that news media claimed was Christie’s efforts to punish them for unfavorable coverage.

Read more: http://observer.com/2018/02/nj-politics-digest-senate-moves-measure-grant-political-appointees-big-raises/