Polistina, Singer express openness to voting for budget

With a deal on the New Jersey state budget coming together, two moderate Republican senators, State Sens. Vince Polistina (R-Egg Harbor) and Bob Singer (R-Lakewood), are both sounding open to the idea of voting in favor of the ultimate budget bill, something which most of their Republican colleagues are likely to oppose.

“I’m being open-minded about it,” Singer said. “There are some things in this particular budget that could have a positive effect on my district. If they’re still in there by the final phase, I might be leaning towards possibly voting for it.”

“We’re waiting to see the full budget, but many of the same priorities – why I voted for it last year – I believe are going to be included this year, in terms of property tax relief, fully funding pensions, and additional school aid,” Polistina said. “If that’s the case, I’m planning on voting for it.”

Polistina and his Assembly partners in the 2nd legislative district were the only three Republicans to support last year’s budget, which otherwise passed with exclusively Democratic votes. Singer did not support that budget, but he is oftentimes a gettable vote for Democrats on bills the rest of his caucus opposes.

The same can be said for State Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), another unabashedly moderate Republican who sometimes votes for contentious bills. But Bramnick was much less sanguine when asked for his thoughts on this year’s budget, which is set to be released in full at tomorrow’s committee hearings and voted on this Friday.

“I think, unfortunately, there’s way too much spending,” Bramnick said. “You would have to cut the budget, specifically some of these giveaways or Christmas-tree items, before I would ever vote for it.”

Two other senators, State Sens. Jean Stanfield (R-Westampton) and Sam Thompson (D-Old Bridge), both said they are waiting to see what the final budget looks like before taking a stance. Thompson is a member of the majority Democratic caucus, which usually sticks together on big budget votes, but given that he was a conservative Republican until his unexpected party switch earlier this year, it’s not clear where his loyalties lie.

“My party registration has nothing to do with how I vote,” Thompson said. “I haven’t got any major problems with [the budget], but we’ll see.”

Moderate Republicans in the Assembly – especially Polistina’s and Stanfield’s district-mates in the 2nd and 8th legislative districts, all of whom are in a competitive fight for re-election this year – are surely weighing similar decisions.

The ultimate budget vote is not likely to be hugely dramatic, but Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Woodbridge) and Senate President Nick Scutari (D-Linden) will still need to be careful about making sure they have the necessary votes lined up before Friday. 

That’s especially true in the Senate, where three Democrats – Richard Codey (D-Roseland), Nia Gill (D-Montclair), and Sandra Cunningham (D-Jersey City) – have been absent from voting sessions recently. Scutari said that Codey is set to come back for the budget vote this Friday; Cunningham is unlikely to ever return to the Senate, and it’s not clear what’s happening with Gill.

Asked if he was worried about getting the votes needed for passage, Scutari simply said “no.”