Port Authority “reform” bill override fails

Mike Doherty

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

They may not love the Governor, Save Jerseyans, but they declined to further weaken his political position (here and nationally) and, in so doing, hand Democrats a major rhetorical victory.

Mike Doherty: the sole defector
Mike Doherty: the sole defector

That’s the best way to interpret the rationale behind today’s decision by Trenton Republicans to not help Democrats override Governor Christie’s veto of S-2181, the Port Authority reform “transparency” legislation, despite a concerted attempt to pick off Republican legislators. Whether you agree or not is a different story.

A Sweeney/Weinberg/Gordon-led effort garnered only 25 votes (to 14 against), two votes short of two-thirds majority required for an override.

The fact that a GOP-backed override was even considered a real albeit distant possibility is a sign of the times. A widely-rumored possible defector, former Christie BFF Joe Kyrillos, criticized “a lack of leadership” on both sides of the Hudson River (in of itself extraordinary), ramping up his prior criticism of the Port Authority, but the Monmouth legislator stopped short of openly rebelling.

The sole Republican defector? Mike Doherty. Senator Jennifer Beck did not cast a vote.

All of this is transpiring at a time when there are renewed rumors of an imminent commencement of the Bridgegate saga’s endgame.

Senator Tom Kean, Jr., leader of the caucus, pitched his own alternative legislative effort (S-2794) after the override’s demise was apparent and, in a prepared statement, hit one back across the net at the other party: “Now that the New Jersey Senate Democrats have gotten this political game out of their system, I hope that they will join our caucus and New York Senate and Assembly colleagues, who aren’t acting on the dated and incomplete legislation that failed again today.”

 

Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8403 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.

2 Comments

  1. I would only vote for NJ to pull out of the so-called bi-state agency and get control of OUR ports and airports again. All the port authority is is an agency that Naw Yawk uses to syphon money out of NJ to invest in economic benefits for Naw Yawk like the World Trade Center.

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