Measure pushing N.J. towns to share services may have to wait

With just a week to go, a bill that would encourage New Jersey towns to share services might not be enacted before the end of the current legislative session.

 

The measure would withhold some state aid from towns that don’t move ahead with recommended consolidation plans.

The chances of getting the Democratic Assembly leadership to post the bill for a vote are not very good because many public employees don’t want it to be enacted, said Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth.

“It is a tip of the hat to them, and that’s unfortunate,” he said. “This is doing, what’s obviously in the best interests of taxpayers throughout this state, sacrificing their best interests for some political concern.”

The bill is not quite dead, said Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald, D-Camden. But he gave no indication whether the Assembly will consider it at its final meeting of the session next week.

The Senate voted last year to approve the measure.

If it isn’t approved in the final days of the Assembly session next week, O’Scanlon said supporters will introduce it again in the next legislative session.