By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Following an April 7th meeting where the Delaware River Bay Authority (DRBA) Board of Commissioners voted three-year contracts containing 1.9% salary increases and 10% healthcare premium sharing, Governor Chris Christie stepped in on Tuesday morning and lowered the boom by vetoing the minutes.
You can click here to read the veto message.
“The DRBA is well aware that New Jersey state employees and many local employees have already moved to a higher level of healthcare cost sharing than what is paid by DRBA employees today and that there must be equity in these times of fiscal restraint to protect taxpayers and tollpayers alike,” said Governor Christie. “The DRBA’s attempted action here is clearly contrary to that principle and inconsistent with the contracts public employees are living under in New Jersey today. For these reasons, I am vetoing these inappropriate actions.”
Governor Christie has taken similar action in the past against various independent authorities around the state which he’s referred to, quite correctly, as New Jersey’s “shadow government,” but it’s brutally clear that true reform will remain elusive while these authorities remain in existence. They’re out-of-control…