Rutgers University

ASSEMBLY HIGHER EDUCATION LEADERS SEEK QUICK ACTION ON RUTGERS ATHLETICS REFORMS

Lawmakers Want Progress Report from RU President Within 90 days, Suggest New Chief Operating Officer Post to Ensure Accountability

(TRENTON) – Assembly Higher Education Chairman Patrick J. Diegnan and Vice Chairwoman Pamela R. Lampitt today asked the Rutgers University president to report within 90 days on progress made toward changing how the university operates after a special audit found it has mismanaged its athletics department.

In a letter to Rutgers University President Richard L. McCormick, the lawmakers wrote that they want to be kept abreast of reform efforts and suggested the university create a new chief operating officer and hire someone with a business background to fill the post.

FOR RELEASE: Immediate
Feb. 22, 2007

CODEY/KARCHER ETHICS REFORM PACKAGE SAILS UNANIMOUSLY THROUGH SENATE

Bills Are Part of Package That Also Includes More Transparent Budget Process

TRENTON -- The full Senate today overwhelmingly approved four bills that are part of a comprehensive ethics reform package sponsored by Senate President Richard J. Codey (D-Essex) and Senator Ellen Karcher (D-Monmouth, Mercer). The bipartisan measures, which now head to the Assembly for approval, are aimed at restoring the public's confidence in government and creating greater transparency and efficiency.

CODEY/KARCHER ETHICS REFORM PACKAGE MOVES FORWARD IN SENATE

TRENTON - The Senate State Government Committee today approved five bills that are part of a comprehensive ethics reform package introduced by Senate President Richard J. Codey (D-Essex) last month. Co-sponsored by Senator Ellen Karcher (D-Monmouth, Mercer), the bipartisan measures are aimed at restoring the public's confidence in government and creating greater transparency and efficiency.

"We cannot realistically expect to stem the rising tide of property taxes without reining in spending and abuses," said Sen. Codey. "This is not a Democratic principle or a Republican principle. It's a simple truth - one that is recognized on both sides of the aisle and has already received bipartisan support from my colleagues.

ASSEMBLY GOES DEEP TO HONOR SCARLET KNIGHTS' HISTORIC SEASON

(TRENTON) - The Assembly today passed legislation Assembly members Upendra Chivukula, Craig Stanley, Patrick Diegnan, John Burzichelli and Jeff Van Drew sponsored to honor the Rutgers football program.

NJ LEGISLATURE HONORS RUTGERS' OUTSTANDING FOOTBALL SEASON

TRENTON - On behalf of the entire New Jersey Legislature, Senate President Richard J. Codey (D-Essex) today presented the football team of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, with a joint ceremonial resolution to commemorate their remarkable achievements during the 2006 football season. The resolution, sponsored by Sen. Codey, Assemblyman John McKeon and Assemblyman Mims Hackett, lauded the Scarlet Knights for their 11-2 season and first bowl championship.

"This year the Rutgers football team managed to surpass all of our wildest expectations and galvanize the entire state with some nail-biting, hard fought victories. They brought national attention to our state and were a huge source of pride for all of us. In honor of all their successes, and what are sure to be many more in the coming years, we are proud to salute them with this resolution," said Senate President Richard J. Codey.

WOLFE SAYS DEMS COULD HAVE DEFUSED
PROPERTY TAX CRISIS BY FUNDING EXISTING STATE AID FORMULA

Rutgers Study Confirms State Aid Freeze Drove Up
Property Taxes by 20% in Some School Districts

Assemblyman David Wolfe said today the conscious decision by Democrats to freeze state aid for schools for five years in a row triggered the massive escalation in property taxes, according to a study by the Institute on Education Law and Policy at Rutgers University-Newark.

The study determined that schools were shorted $846 million during the 2005-06 school year alone. Ernest C. Reock Jr., the author of the study and an expert on property taxes, said had the money been provided property taxes could have been lowered about 6 percent in the poorest districts, 20 percent in lower-income districts, 9 percent in middle-income districts and 3.5 percent in the wealthiest districts.

"No one should be surprised by the findings," said Wolfe, R-Ocean and Monmouth, and a former chairman and member of the Assembly Education Committee. "Without the full amount of state aid to which they were entitled, school districts were forced to rely more on property taxes, which are now twice the national average.

"I understand the need to devise a fairer school funding formula because even the existing formula does not meet the legitimate needs of suburban school districts. But no one can deny the fact that Democrats brought this crisis on themselves by refusing to fund the existing funding formula."

BECK SAYS BRYANT'S PENSION REQUEST SHOULD BE
PUT ON ICE UNTIL FEDERAL PROBE COMPLETE

Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck today said State Senator Wayne Bryant's request to begin collecting his state pension should be put on ice until a federal probe regarding an alleged no-work job at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is complete.

SENATE PRESIDENT CODEY PROPOSES PACKAGE OF BROAD, LONG-TERM GOVERNMENT REFORMS

TRENTON -- Senate President Richard J. Codey (D-Essex) today announced a package of sweeping government reform proposals that will be taken up by the State Senate in the coming months. The seven-point plan is designed to enhance public confidence in the budget process by providing a more transparent opportunity for public scrutiny, and also restore confidence in state and local government operations through increased controls.

"By building on the ethics reforms adopted last session, these proposals will close some remaining loopholes and we can begin to help restore the public's confidence in government," said Sen. Codey. "These measures will also make the entire budget process more transparent and efficient."

CABLEVISION'S UNWILLINGNESS TO SHOW RUTGERS GAME
THROWING CUSTOMERS FOR A LOSS
Assemblyman Questions Where Company's Loyalties Lie:
With Fans and Subscribers or Its Own Bottom Line

(NEWARK) -- Frustrated by Cablevision's posturing with the NFL Network over the broadcasting of Rutgers' December 28 Texas Bowl game against Kansas State, Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo said the company's continued intransigence may lead him to ask for legislative hearings into its "habitual anti-New Jersey sports-fan business decisions."