By Patricia Alex. Staff Writer. The Record.
Buoyed by deal making in South Jersey, political leaders in the northern part of the state are pushing for substantial changes in Governor Christie’s university reorganization plan, seeking more autonomy for Rutgers-Newark and a strengthening of the state’s beleaguered medical university in that city.
Christie has been mum about compromises being hashed out by the different groups in North and South Jersey, but sources said his representatives have been in on some of the talks, and it is believed the governor may have to compromise to have this deal done. And that compromise may come amid the one being negotiated by the same lawmakers over Christie’s call for a 10 percent income tax cut.
Sources familiar with the latest merger talks say the North Jersey legislators and other top officials in and around Newark have been working privately to come up with a plan similar to one worked out by South Jersey power brokers who are now seeking financial autonomy for Rutgers-Camden, which would work in partnership with Rowan University in Glassboro.
Many in Newark viewed Christie’s plan as a losing proposition for the state’s largest city. The governor has proposed the breakup of the Newark-based University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, with the most successful pieces of the school — including a medical school in New Brunswick — going to Rutgers University’s flagship in New Brunswick/Piscataway.
Booker and others balked at the idea of a diminished and financially unstable UMDNJ, and the mayor reportedly wants assurances that more than $600 million in debt carried by the school and University Hospital will be shored up before any plan moves forward.
“The debt is the big issue,” said Assemblywoman Connie Wagner, D-Paramus, who attended the meeting. “I’m from Bergen, why do I care? Because Newark is important to the economic recovery of North Jersey.”
The hospital is the largest charity-care provider in the state and among the biggest employers in Newark.
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