By Matt Katz. Inquirer Trenton Bureau.
TRENTON – Political support solidified behind the proposed reorganization of the state’s higher education system Monday as proponents said costs would be negligible – no more than $40 million – thanks in part to a change to the plan.
That is far less than cost estimates of more than $1 billion by opponents of the plan.
The $40 million figure was revealed Monday night after a flurry of amendments to the bill to address concerns of North Jersey politicians, and of many unions that represent employees of Rutgers and the other entities involved in the overhaul.
One key new amendment would delay implementation of the plan until July 2013, in time for the 2013-14 school year, and forbid layoffs of employees for the first year. The union representing the 30,000 workers that would be affected by the reorganization said it was now supportive.
“We negotiated with the sponsors for many weeks and got protections to services, workers, higher education, and based upon those protections we are supporting the bill,” said Hetty Rosenstein, director of the Communications Workers of America union.
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