TRENTON – Lawmakers hinted that going into last week’s round of budget hearings there would be little in the way of fireworks.
And they didn’t disappoint.
Now, the Statehouse agenda is set for another round of Fiscal Year 2014 budget hearings that will likely offer little in the way of controversy.
Lawmakers will hear from heads of such departments as Community Affairs, Environmental Protection, Health and Military and Veterans’ Affairs.
The docket leaves little in the way of fiery rhetoric during the hearings.
Expect the best stuff to come from lawmakers in the way of e-mailed statements following each hearing.
Gov
But tame budget hearings won’t be the only happenings in New Jersey politics this week.
Gov. Chris Christie will be coming off a week of rubbing elbows with Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo and picking up another endorsement from a labor group that previously backed Jon Corzine during the last gubernatorial election.
Inside the Statehouse, he still has legislation to deal with.
Deadlines are approaching for several bills sitting on the governor’s desk, including Senate President Steve Sweeney’s project labor agreement proposal.
The bill, A3679/S2425, expands the application of project labor agreements to include road, bridge and other project contracts. It would amend the state statute dealing with authorizing project labor agreements to allow additional labor agreements with the state and expand the definition of “public works project,” which pertains now to “construction, reconstruction, demolition or renovation” projects.
Jersey City mayor’s race
The premier debate of the Jersey City mayoral election is set for this week. The event is being hosted by PolitickerNJ and Saint Peter’s University.
It will feature Mayor Jerramiah Healy, Councilman Steve Fulop, community activist and former Seton Hall basketball star Jerry Walker and Abdul Malik.
The one-hour-long event, scheduled for April 17 at 7:30 p.m., will be moderated by PolitickerNJ Editor Darryl Isherwood and Nicholas Chiaravalloti, executive director of the Guarini Institute for Government and Leadership at Saint Peter’s.
It will be held in the University’s Mac Mahon Student Center. Tickets to the event will be distributed by the campaigns as well as through the university.
Healy is vying for his third full term in office. He took over as mayor in 2004 after the death of then-mayor Glenn Cunningham. He won re-election in 2005 and again in 2009.
Fulop was first elected to the city council in 2005 and like Healy won his 2009 bid for re-election. Walker is a relative latecomer to the race but says his lack of funds won’t hinder him.
Monday
Gov. Chris Christie
Not yet scheduled
Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno
Not yet scheduled
Legislature
Senate
10 a.m., Budget Committee, Dept. of Community Affairs, Rm. 4, Statehouse Annex, Trenton
1 p.m., Budget Committee, Dept. of Environmental Protection, Rm. 4, Statehouse Annex, Trenton
Tuesday
Gov. Chris Christie
Not yet scheduled
Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno
Not yet scheduled
Legislature
Assembly
10 a.m., Budget Committee, Dept. of Human Services, Rm. 11, Statehouse Annex, Trenton
Boards and Commissions
10 a.m., N.J. Mosquito Control Commission, Department of Environmental Protection, conservation center, Assunpink Wildlife Management Area, One Eldridge Road, Robbinsville
Daily Events
7 p.m., “Journey from Vulnerability to Engagement,” 2013 Sen. Wynona Lipman Lecture in Women’s Political Leadership, Melody Barnes, former assistant to President Obama and director of the White House Policy Council, Kirkpatrick Chapel, 81 Somerset St., Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Wednesday
Gov. Chris Christie
Not yet scheduled
Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno
Not yet scheduled
Legislature
Senate
11 a.m., Budget Committee, Dept. of Health, Rm. 4, Statehouse Annex, Trenton
1:30 p.m., Budget Committee, Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development, Rm. 4, Statehouse Annex, Trenton
2:30 p.m., Budget Committee, Dept. of Military and Veterans Affairs, Rm. 4, Statehouse Annex, Trenton
Boards and Commissions
6 p.m., Delaware River Port Authority, Arch Street Friends Meeting House, 320 Arch St., Philadelphia
Daily events
7:30 p.m., Jersey City mayoral debate, St. Peter’s University, Mac Mahon Student Center, 2641 Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City
Thursday
Gov. Chris Christie
Not yet scheduled
Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno
Not yet scheduled
Legislature
Assembly
10 a.m., Budget Committee, Higher Education, Rm. 11, Statehouse Annex, Trenton
2 p.m., Budget Committee, Dept. of Law and Public Safety, Rm. 11, Statehouse Annex, Trenton
Boards and Commissions
9:15 a.m., Health Care Administration Board, Health and Agricultural Building, first-floor auditorium, 369 S. Warren St., Trenton
10 a.m., N.J. Sports and Exposition Authority, executive offices, Meadowlands, East Rutherford
11 a.m., Newark Municipal Council Public/Private Housing Committee, Newark City Hall, 920 Broad St., Rm. 304, Newark
4:30 p.m., N.J. Law Revision Commission, Commission offices, seventh floor, 153 Halsey St., Newark
5 p.m., N.J. Highlands Council, 100 North Road, Chester
Friday
Gov. Chris Christie
Not yet scheduled
Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno
Not yet scheduled
Legislature
Nothing scheduled
