By Patricia Alex and Melissa Hayes. Staff Writers. The Record.
For months lawmakers, power brokers and other interested parties have been redrawing the plan to reorder some of the state’s largest public universities, but on the day it was set for a vote there were still more changes and threats of a holdout by Democrats who want more hearings and detailed cost estimates.
On Thursday lawmakers added even more to the deal — a promise of no layoffs for anyone at the schools involved for two years and a guarantee that New Jersey taxpayers would cover any “unexpected” costs related to dissolving the state’s medical university.
The state Senate is planning to vote on the bill Monday. But some legislators are pushing for more of a delay, saying there hasn’t been a proper vetting of a plan that some fear could cost more than $1 billion and force significant changes to the schools. It is unclear what the state Assembly will do, and Governor Christie has been pushing for legislative action on the plan by July 1.
Legislators delayed Thursday’s scheduled vote, then met behind closed doors to craft the latest amendments. As the senators did that, nine members of the Assembly said they wouldn’t vote for the state budget unless more financial details were available for the university plan.
“I cannot support the merger on the governor’s timetable,” said Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-Englewood, one of the nine holdouts. “Until I am confident that the merger will not cause tuition hikes or pull the state into further economic distress, I cannot give the governor his rushed merger.”
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