Few things in government are ever black and white. Most fall within shades of gray, to be parsed out by policy makers. But the current issue of the expired binding arbitration cap is not one of these. The message is simple — we must make this law permanent. Allowing this critical law to expire is a serious disservice to our constituents.
This rather complicated process is one of the only tools local and county leaders have in their limited arsenal to control spending and costs.
Passing a permanent binding arbitration law is not an attack on police; this is a measure that protects our constituents while guaranteeing other essential services are not cut. How can we ask local leaders to exist within the 2 percent tax cap when they have no control over one of their biggest cost drivers? This is a necessity.
This law works and it is helping our towns and counties rein in costs that, until now, they had little ability to manage. The unions must not be permitted to control this issue and distort the message.
We are not punishing our police — we are controlling spending, plain and simple. I sincerely hope the Assembly will act quickly and decisively to approve this law. We did it in the Senate, and the governor’s pen is ready to sign that bill into law.
Jennifer Beck
State Senator
Red Bank