By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
One of the first things that Stephen Sweeney did when he became the state Senate president two years ago was to sit down with Gov. Chris Christie.
Although the two men belong to opposing political parties, they agreed there are “way too many problems in New Jersey” to allow politics to get in the way, Sen. Sweeney said Monday night at Rider University.
And during the past two years, the Democratic state senator and the Republican governor have worked together with state lawmakers to push through reforms to the state pension system and to tackle the issue of teacher tenure.
”It is not fun, but you have to lead. It is very hard to tell the truth, but that is exactly what we have done. It was a partnership,” said Sen. Sweeney, who was invited to speak at Rider University by the school’s Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics. He represents the 3rd Legislative District in southern New Jersey.
Sen. Sweeney, who praised the Senate Democrats for working together across party lines, also credited Democratic state Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver. She is his counterpart in the state Assembly. She stepped up to the plate and tackled the “tough issues,” he said.
While those battles have already been fought, there are other issues on state lawmakers’ agendas from raising the minimum wage to gaining voter approval for a higher education bond referendum on the Nov. 6 general election ballot.
The minimum wage is $7.25, but Sen. Sweeney would like to boost it to $8.25 by 2014. He would like to pass an amendment to the state Constitution to allow minimum wage increases to be tied to the Consumer Price Index. An amendment to the Constitution requires voter approval, but a bill to raise the minimum wage could be vetoed by the governor.
Sen. Sweeney said he thinks voters would approve a Constitutional amendment that would allow for increases in the minimum wage. Increasing the minimum wage would raise the standard of living for workers who are paid at that rate, he said.
While wealthier households might put a tax refund in the bank, households that rely on the minimum wage would “spend every dollar,” Sen. Sweeney said, adding that it would boost the economy. He pointed out that those families must hold down two jobs to make ends meet, sometimes working 80 hours per week.
Turning to the “Building Our Future Bond Act,” which is on the Nov. 6 general election ballot, Sen. Sweeney said the $750 million bond act is an investment in higher education. The money would pay for capital improvement projects on public and private college campuses.
”People don’t like to spend money, especially in a bad economy,” Sen. Sweeney said, but the last bond referendum earmarked for college campuses was passed in 1988. That’s the last time the state made an investment in its college campuses, he said.
Improving the facilities would bring New Jersey’s colleges into the 21st century, he said. Approving the bond referendum would show a commitment to improving the laboratories and classrooms, he said, adding that referendum proponents will be working with colleges to get their students and alumni to vote for it.
Those improvements updated classrooms, libraries, computer facilities and laboratories would help to keep more New Jersey students in New Jersey colleges and also make the state more attractive to companies that could locate here, Sen. Sweeney said.
Companies that move to Massachusetts are attracted by institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he said.
Although Sen. Sweeney has accomplished much, he has suffered some defeats as well such as Gov. Christie’s veto of a marriage equality act earlier this year. The state Legislature approved the bill, which would same sex couples to marry, but the governor vetoed it.
New Jersey has a civil union law on the books, but it does not provide the same level of rights as marriage does, he said. Gay and lesbian couples can adopt children and live in the same house, but a partner in a civil union does not have the authority to make medical decisions in an emergency, for example.
”We are going to work very hard on over-riding (the governor’s veto). If I have the ability to do something, you should have the ability to do it. This is the U.S.A. That’s why people come here,” Sen. Sweeney said.
Turning to the students in the audience, Sen. Sweeney asked for a show of hands from those who are registered to vote. When only a few raised their hands, he told them that “we need young people” to become active.
”Don’t you understand that it’s your future,” he challenged them.
Finally, when an audience member asked Sen. Sweeney about his future in politics, he replied that “I never plan anything in life. If all you do is plan for your next move, you’ll never get anywhere. You can’t do your job.”
”I didn’t think I would be the state Senate president. Who knows where life will take you? I’ll leave it at that,” Sen. Sweeney said.

