MEMBERSHIP IN THE NEW JERSEY ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES IS AN INVESTMENT WELL WORTH MAKING

The NJAC staff spends most of its time monitoring and analyzing state legislation that would affect county governments.  Last year, for example, NJAC tracked 746 pieces of legislation that would have affected county governments, including your county.  In order to influence legislation, the NJAC staff routinely meets with the Governor and his staff; commissioners and their respective staffs; legislative leaders and their respective staffs; and committee chairs and their respective staffs.  The NJAC staff also represents county governments before legislative committees and in the media in order to advance or defend the interests of county governments.

Below are some of our recent achievements on behalf of county governments and their taxpayers:

FINANCIAL ADVANTAGES

• Shared Services Grants: last year NJAC made shared services (between counties and towns) one of its top priorities.  Largely as a result of numerous meetings with administration officials and legislative leaders, the Governor included in his budget last year $20 million to encourage shared services (that amount is increased this year).  If your county has a shared services coordinator, it’s likely that the funding for that position was made possible by NJAC’s activities.

• Voter Verification: included in the state budget is $10 million to assist county governments in complying with the new state law requiring voting machines to have paper verification systems.  NJAC was instrumental in securing those funds.

• Presidential Primary: when the Legislature last year created the new Presidential Primary in February, it did so without providing funding for counties to administer the election.  The cost to counties for running that election was estimated to be $10 million.  As the result of numerous meetings with Governor’s staff and legislative leaders, and as the result of statewide media attention initiated by NJAC, the Governor and legislative leaders pledged to fully reimburse counties for the cost.  On that issue alone your county probably saved several hundred thousand dollars.

• Public Contract Bills (A-4393/A4384): Two bills were moving quickly through the legislature last year that would have had an inflationary effect on all capital projects: one bill would have required counties to publish a “cost estimate” for all bids; and another would have forced counties to pay bidders for the increased cost of supplies regardless of the terms of the contracts.  NJAC joined a coalition of organizations to defeat the legislation, and partially as a result of its activity those both of the bills were defeated.

• Mandatory Paid Leave (S-2249):  NJAC was one of the earliest and most aggressive opponents of a bill to require 12 weeks of paid family leave for all employees, including county employees.  The potential cost of such a law is incalculable, but there is no doubt that it would have been substantial (the bill has been reintroduced in this session, although this version calls for six weeks paid leave.  NJAC will continue to oppose the bill)

• Arbitration Reform: Partially due to NJAC’s advocacy, the Governor this year has called on the Legislature to reform the rules for collective bargaining between counties and their unions.  The proposed new rule would require arbitrators to consider the mandatory four-percent cap as part of any resolution, thus making less likely the imposition of salary increases that would necessitate tax hikes or program cuts.

• Bigley Actions: On March 25^th NJAC will argue before the state Supreme Court on behalf of all counties in a Bigley case involving Cape May County and the Cape May County Prosecutor.  The financial implications of the case are large and a favorable outcome will protect all counties, including your county, from similar actions in the future.

• Energy Purchases (S-1448): NJAC actively encouraged the passage of legislation last year that permits counties to join with the State for the purchase of energy services for their facilities.  Counties that take advantage of this new program will likely realize a savings in their energy costs.

• Mental Health Parity (S-807): NJAC can take significant credit for defeating S-807, which would have required counties to provide health insurance coverage to their employees for “non-biological mental health disorders.”  The cost of such an expansion would have been impossible to estimate, but it no doubt would have been significant.

• Wrongful Death (S-176): NJAC lobbied successfully against legislation that would have expanded the types of damages that are recoverable by family members of the person whose death was caused by the wrongful conduct of another.  Counties having to defend against such suits would have had to pay higher litigation costs, legal fees and potentially higher jury awards.

• Public Records (A-2004/A-4251): NJAC successfully defended against two bills that would have increased the public records maintenance operations of county governments.  Specifically, the bills would have: reduced the fees that counties can charge for copying documents; and required counties to post all public records on the Internet.  Both bills would have created significant new costs for county government.

• Consumer Affairs Regulation: As the result of meetings held last year between NJAC staff and the Division of Consumer Affairs, the DCA agreed to retract proposed regulations concerning the protection of personal information under the control of county governments.  The regulations, intended to protect against identity theft, would have required counties to take burdensome measures to prevent and respond to information security breeches.

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGES

NJAC is strictly non-partisan, representing all of New Jersey’s 21 counties.  That makes it a credible source of information on which policymakers and the media rely, and potentially more influential than any one county can be on its own.  Your county's interests are advanced farther, and its voice amplified, when it is joined by 20 other counties, including counties whose governments are controlled by the opposite political party.

Because of our influence, NJAC members have access to high-ranking government officials to whom your county officials might not have access otherwise.  Consider: Governor Corzine recently requested the chance to meet with the NJAC Board for the purpose of explaining his plan for financial restructuring.  Our Board met with him and the Commissioner of Transportation for several hours, during which there was a free exchange of questions and information.  Such engagements are not merely a courtesy.  They are highly informational for our members and they build good will between the organization and the public officials whom it seeks to influence.

In addition, NJAC has a statewide reach in terms of its media coverage, which makes it a more potent force than any one county.  That is especially important for smaller counties, whose concerns are sometimes muffled without support from the larger counties.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

NJAC members are eligible to participate in several educational programs, including:

• The Annual Conference, which offers courses for professionals through which they can receive mandatory continuing education credits
• The LEAD NJ Program, the only course of its kind in the nation that is fully accredited.
• The Partners in Excellence Program, which provides scholarships to students in every county who attend county technical schools