Also Vetoes Legislation to Protect Domestic Jobs From Outsourcing
Early Friday evening, Governor Christie quietly vetoed legislation that required a cost analysis of proposed privatization contracts. Despite strong support for the concept from his own Privatization Task Force Chairman and former Republican Congressman Dick Zimmer, Christie continues to illustrate his desire to undermine government transparency and undermine taxpayer protection efforts from the negative financial impact of privatization boondoggles that have plagued our contracting process in the past. Privatization “gone wrong” has resulted in squandering millions in taxpayer dollars while simultaneously rewarding politically connected contractors. The bill, S-968 / A-1494 (Weinberg, Turner / Vainieri Huttle, Watson Coleman) sought a common sense approach to contracting by requiring a cost analysis prior to privatizing a government service, as well as conducting the same audit after the contract was implemented, in order to assure that potential savings actually materialized.
The Governor also vetoed S-2188 / A-3775 (Gordon, Weinberg / Wagner, Eustace, DeAngelo, Benson), which requires employer notification when relocating call center services outside the United States. The “Save NJ Call Center Jobs Act” would have shed light on those corporations that are taking state government economic development subsidies and other tax benefits while simultaneously shipping call center jobs overseas. At a time when New Jersey is suffering the highest unemployment rate in the region, the Governor has once again rejected common sense legislation that sought to protect domestic jobs.
In vetoing these bills, Christie has illustrated that corporations in the State should not be held accountable for squandering taxpayer dollars or outsourcing much needed jobs.