N.J. Senate President Stephen Sweeney plans to unveil framework for university merger

By Juliet Fletcher And Melissa Hayes, Staff Writers. The Record.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney is preparing to introduce bare-bones legislation to serve as the proposal for merging New Jersey’s medical school with Rutgers University, but first he will meet with lawmakers staunchly opposed to the reorganization, according to several Senate Democrats familiar with the plan.

Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, said Friday that Sweeney’s proposal is on track to be introduced June 1, and would form the framework of lawmakers’ discussions on how to combine the separate higher education facilities in a far-reaching reorganization that would affect campuses in North and South Jersey.

The proposal comes at a critical time as Sweeney is trying to bridge the concerns held by legislators and power brokers in the north and the south who are arguing over competing parts of the plan.

Governor Christie in late January endorsed a recommendation to merge the University of Medicine and Dentistry under Rutgers, but further proposed moving Rutgers’ Camden campus and a newly created medical school at Cooper University under the banner of the smaller state college Rowan University.

Sen. Ronald Rice, D-Essex, said Friday that he has a meeting scheduled with Sweeney on Thursday to air out the major disagreements between northern and southern legislators over the plan.

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