If Attorney General has Revied the “Special Legislation” Issue, Opinion Should Be Made Public
Senate Republican Leader Thomas H. Kean Jr. and Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce today called on Governor Jon Corzine to immediately make public any legal opinions his administration has received regarding the issue of whether the creation of the Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) as part of his toll hike proposal violates the state constitution’s prohibition against special legislation.
“If Governor Corzine is confident his legislation is constitutionally sound he should have no problem releasing the legal opinion that addressed this issue,” said Kean, R-Union, Morris, Somerset and Essex. “It is our belief that the New Jersey Constitution prohibits the granting of an exclusive franchise to this PBC and that, if challenged in court, the plan will be found unconstitutional.”
Under Governor Corzine’s proposal, a PBC would be set up to manage the toll roads and sell the bonds generating the $32 to $38 billion Corzine seeks to generate through this deal. The PBC would repay those bonds using toll revenue derived from the massive toll hikes the Governor is proposing.
Kean and DeCroce said the constitutional issue arises under Article IV, Section 7, paragraph 9 of the New Jersey Constitution, which states, “The Legislature shall not pass any private, special or local laws… Granting to any corporation, association or individual any exclusive privilege, immunity or franchise whatever…”
Specifically, the draft bill requires the successor to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, the Capital Solutions Corporation (CSC), to enter into a long term concession agreement with the yet to be created PBC. The bill requires that the CSC “enter into a concession agreement with the PBC on a sole source basis, giving it the exclusive right to operate maintain, manage, expand and improve any or all assets of the CSC specified in the agreement during the PBC concession period and to impose, adjust and collect tolls and charges.”
The governor’s spokesperson yesterday stated the Attorney General and outside counsel had reviewed the legislation, and that, “Their work has included a thorough review of this issue, and they are confident that the plan fully complies with the state constitution.”
“The constitutional prohibition against granting an exclusive franchise to any corporation is very clear,” said DeCroce, R-Morris and Passaic. “We believe the Governor’s proposal is in conflict with that language and would like to see any legal opinion the administration has received to the contrary. The clock is ticking toward the deadline for producing a balanced budget and we should not be wasting time debating this bill if the Governor cannot demonstrate right now that this plan is constitutional.”
DeCroce noted that twice before, under Governor’s McGreevey and Codey, questions were raised about the constitutionality of an administration proposal to balance the budget and both times, after the budget had already been passed, the courts found those measures unconstitutional.
Link to Post:
Similar Posts:
- Kean & DeCroce: Governor’s Toll Road Plan Appears to Violate the State Constitution
February 13, 2008 - Kean & DeCroce Call On Corzine To Introduce Budget Not Dependent On Proposed Toll Hike Revenue
February 5, 2008 - Kean Uses OPRA to Ask for Information on Corzine Toll Hike Plan
September 26, 2008 - Kean and DeCroce: Corzine Needs to Say If He Will Hike Tolls for Tunnel Cost Overruns
November 12, 2008 - OLS Analysis Flawed
September 17, 2008
