A highly-anticipated vote on the New Jersey Assembly's rescue design for Atlantic City was set aside on hold by Speaker Vincent Prieto. He said he had to postpone the vote to next Wednesday due to the absence of three members of his Democratic caucus.
Prieto introduced the bill as alternative to the state takeover design being pushed by Republican Gov. Chris Christie and Democratic State Senate President Steve Sweeney. The bills differ in how long they would give Atlantic City to stablize its finances before the state would lift over,with Prieto's bill affording a much longer window for the cash-strapped resort. The Speaker has also placed a precedence on preserving collective bargaining rights for Atlantic City's municipal workers.
Christie said he hopes the failure of Prieto's rescue bill will lead lawmakers to move beyond legislative in-fighting, and support Sweeney's takeover package."This has been a waste of time, or a waste of money,and much too much drama over something that never had any real opportunity to pass," Christie told reporters. He also promised to veto the Prieto bill should it manufacture it to his desk.
But Prieto said no one in his caucus plans to vote for the Christie-Sweeney design, and that he won't set aside up the bill if it has no chance of passage in his chamber.
Prieto told reporters that he's open to compromise with Christie,but that he won't back down in the face of Christie's veto threats."I'm not looking for a victory. I'm looking for a bill that protects Atlantic City's civil liberties, protects the workers that are there [and] protects their self-governance, and " the Hudson County Democrat said.
Christie warned that Atlantic City could run out of money in as soon as 10 days if the takeover design is not passed.
Source: wnyc.org