The O’Toole Chronicles: In the Tank

During my time in the Legislature, I always wanted to serve on the largest committees and commissions.

Allow me to explain.

If I was going to truly have a second job in Trenton, I wanted it to mean something. Have something of significant consequence, purpose, substantial political heft and policy weight.

Recalling just how hard I worked to arrive in Trenton, after swearing my oath of office, I was not going to just mail it in, collect a check, and wear a special lapel pin. What’s the point?

During my two stints in the General Assembly, I served on the Transportation Committee and Budget Committee and volunteered to serve on the Constitutional Commission, Domestic Violence Commission and the Joint Legislative Committee on Public Employee Benefits Reform — which for the first time had both houses work together on the far-reaching consequences of an underfunded Heath and Pension programs. At that time, Budget and Transportation were considered the committees where significant legislation would be considered and veteran legislators from both sides sought a seat on these committees.

In as much as I thought I knew the legislative process as a former staffer, the reality is you can only begin to understand the full contact nature of Trenton when you don the legislator title and play ball. Simply put, this exercise and experience is not and was not teachable – you had to live it.

In the State Senate, I requested and fought to serve on the Budget and Judiciary committees.

Seeing a common theme here.

Again, like the Assembly experiment, both Senate Committees were considered heavy duty, and both required tons of time and focus. Generally speaking, look at the roster of committee members on these two committees, and you will usually see the more highly regarded veterans who sought out these seats.

The Budget Committee was a massive undertaking, and Senator Paul Sarlo always took the job very seriously.  He did a terrific job managing the chaos. Other than his penchant to come late, which was annoying for those of us who were trained to be on time, Paul was always on top of the sometimes-arcane budget process and he made it work. Few others (if any) could navigate these waters and Paul dedicates a lot time handling this $46.4 billion dollar endeavor.

In as much I most loved my time on the Budget Committee and I enjoyed the proximity to the decision makers of any administration (because money makes it all happen), I was most thrilled with my time on the Senate Judiciary Committee. It might sound tedious to the uninformed, but those truly in the know will give up a first born to be named to this committee.

Here is the truth, as a Senate Judiciary Committee member, you will be called upon many times to vote YES, or sometimes NO, on an important appointment to the Supreme Court Justice, the Cabinet, or hugely consequential Board or Commission. You just need to be prepared and ready for those moments. In Trenton, it seldom gets any bigger than this.

On Judiciary, I took the role incredibly seriously and I went out of my way to meet every judicial nominee. I read every scrap of research and background prepared by our able staffers and did my own independent research.

The question is how do you become an effective judiciary member? Modestly, what made me effective on Judiciary was I had a cool and effective role model to follow. Paraphrasing Carly Simon’s song, nobody did it better than Judiciary Chairman Nicholas Scutari (now Senate President). I have no doubt that my friend Brian Stack will excel at helming this committee, but Nick had such a hold and professional grace on the committee – a presence and demeanor that said and did it all.

As I have written about before, Chair Scutari took the job deadly serious and spent an inordinate about of time preparing and reviewing. Make no mistake about it, Judiciary was HIS committee and I assume he will not be too far away as the now Senate President. While Senator Scutari was elected 4 years earlier to the Senate, I interacted with him in Union County when I was a legislator in the 1990’s representing five towns in Union County, while he was a Union County Freeholder. My first meaningful perch to see Nick in action was when he chaired the 2006 bicameral commission on Pension Reform. The six legislators spent our summer of 2006 together toiling away on this bi-partisan Commission, which uniquely had both Assembly and Senator members- Co-Chaired by Senator Scutari and Assemblywoman Pou and the other 4 members included Senators Gormley and Rice and Assemblymembers Giblin and O’Toole. The Chairs corralled the legislators and special interests groups and we hammered out 41 concrete recommendations. I attach the report here for those born in politics after 2006, Public Employees’ Retirement System 2006.

Back to managing the Judiciary Committee, then Chairman Scutari, regardless of majority party or minority party status, allowed each Senator to feel as an equal part of this important body while giving wide latitude to our questioning (usually to me) and encouraged us all to take our advice and consent duties seriously. It was a familiar refrain to be heard in the drafting of our 1948 Constitution, our founding fathers wanted exactly this as part of a checks and balances in our State government.

Because of this credo laid down by the Chair, with some very limited exceptions, I truly believe that we have a Judiciary of the highest caliber. The comprehensive and hands-on vetting by Senator Scutari had set the serious tone and extremely high bar for us all. As a minority party member, I followed his model and soon mastered the mechanics of the all-important Judiciary Committee. I still get an occasional call from members seeking advice on how the complicated process works. Again, it is time consuming and it takes someone actually serving on the Judiciary to truly understand the nuance and political sophistication that is part of this dynamic committee.

Note to legislators: Do not just mail in your service.

I have seen my share of legislators showing up late and unprepared only to simply sign the voting sheets and leave. That disservice is almost as bad as being in the tank and prejudging a budget vote, significant piece of legislation or high-profile appointment without the proper vetting. You are not doing your job and you are not taking your responsibility seriously if you do it this way. You need to roll up your sleeves, do the work that is expected, and allow your colleagues to do the same. As I wrote once before, Senate seats don’t grow on trees.