TRENTON – Senator Bob Smith, co-Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Government Consolidation and Shared Services, issued the following statement today on the unanimous approval of the Committee’s final report of recommendations at a meeting of the panel today:
“Today, after 13 meetings, exhaustive research and hours of public and expert testimony, the Consolidation and Shared Services Joint Committee has unanimously approved our final report.
TRENTON – Senator Bob Smith, D-Middlesex and Somerset, the Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Government Consolidation and Shared Services, issued the following statement today about the panel’s hearing on the State’s Office of Information Technology, and potential savings from consolidating IT functions in the State:
“I think the message today was that, when it comes to IT consolidation, we’re going to have to spend money to save money.
TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senator Bob Smith which would require the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to hold a public hearing and allow for public comment on shore protection projects was unanimously approved today by the Senate Environment Committee.
“Over the summer, we held a public hearing in Toms River on a number of shore protection issues, and one of the key points we gleaned from that was that we need to be more responsive to the people we’re trying to protect at the Shore,” said Senator Smith, the Chair of the Environment panel. “Many of those that testified were never given a proper public forum to object, despite the fact that beach replenishment was going on, in some cases right in their own backyards. We need to ensure that the public’s voice is heard before we begin fundamentally changing the way of life for those who live at the Jersey Shore.”
TRENTON – Senator Bob Smith, D-Middlesex and Somerset, issued the following statement today regarding the Senate Economic Growth Committee’s hearing today on a number of bills to promote “green buildings,” or buildings which supplement their energy needs through clean, renewable and environmentally-friendly energy collection:
“While the package of ‘green building’ bills were held today to address some of the Committee’s concerns, I am confident that the Committee supports the concept, and that we will be able to see the bills advance at the next meeting of the Economic Growth Committee.
TRENTON – Senator Bob Smith, D-Middlesex and Somerset, the co-chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Government Consolidation and Shared Services, issued the following statement after today’s hearing on consolidating school districts into county-based administrative districts:
“The reactions we received at today’s committee hearing on school consolidation proposals were wholly expected. We knew there would be pushback from school officials whose continued employment relies on what we do to reign in property taxes. But, that doesn’t change the fact that we have to do something, and consolidating our schools into county-based administrative districts could provide significant savings to taxpayers.
TRENTON – Senator Bob Smith, D-Middlesex and Somerset, the co-Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Government Consolidation and Shared Services, issued the following statement regarding today’s hearing on Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts’ “CORE” reform package to encourage government consolidation:
“The Speaker’s ‘CORE’ plan for property tax savings is an invaluable part of real, sustained reform, and fits in nicely with the proposals already talked about in this Committee, including Senator Kyrillos’ municipal merger commission, and my effort to consolidate school administrative functions.
TRENTON – Senator Bob Smith, Co-Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Government Consolidation and Shared Services, issued the following statement regarding today’s committee meeting, in which the panel took testimony from local officials on specific proposals to consolidate governments in New Jersey:
“Today’s testimony regarding consolidation proposals of municipalities illustrated one basic truth – local officials are for consolidation, as long as you don’t ask them to consolidate.
TRENTON – Senator Bob Smith, D-Middlesex and Somerset, the co-chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Government Consolidation and Shared Services, issued the following statement today regarding next week’s committee hearing, in which the panel will ask for input on specific shared service proposals:
“Next week’s committee meeting will signal a change of focus, as we shift gears from looking at shared services and government consolidation with an academic eye to a pragmatic one. We will begin discussing specific shared services proposals, and we will look for input from the local officials who will have to live with what we do to promote efficient government.
TRENTON – Senator Bob Smith, D-Middlesex and Somerset, co-Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Government Consolidation and Shared Services, issued the following statement today regarding the Committee’s hearing on the successes many New Jersey communities are achieving through joint insurance funds and healthcare pools:
“We heard today that New Jersey is achieving great success in centralizing the administration of health and liability insurance funds. As we continue to explore every option to bring relief to State taxpayers, we should see if we can build on the successes in these two areas to promote shared services across the board.
TRENTON – Senator Bob Smith, D-Middlesex and Somerset, co-Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Government Consolidation and Shared Services, issued the following statement today regarding testimony provided to the panel about Maryland’s county-based school system:
“As we explore every possibility to save taxpayer dollars, we should give very serious consideration to a county-based school system modeled after the one that is seeing great success in Maryland.