COUNCIL ENDORSES
BARBARA BUONO
FOR GOVERNOR2-15-2013
THE CHOICE IS CLEAR: BUONO FOR GOVERNOR
At its February 15, 2013 Council meeting, the assembled delegates representing the Council's eleven locals unanimously voted to endorse Barbara Buono, the Democratic candidate for Governor. This is the earliest the Council has moved forward with an endorsement in recent memory.
Senator Buono has established a strong record of supporting education and labor during her time in the legislature. The highest priority of the College Council is ensuring a quality education for the students of New Jersey.
On higher education issues, Senator Buono supports greater oversight of state college/university boards of trustees and has consistently voted to increase funding of public higher education. In 2008, she was responsible for legislation that brought adjunct faculty into the Alternate Benefit Plan, thus protecting pension benefits for these employees. She has also sponsored legislation to limit tuition increases and require the state colleges and universities to provide students with full information on costs and availability of loans and other forms of financial aid. In the realm of K-12 public education, she supports teacher tenure, opposes school vouchers and favors restrictions on the establishment of charter schools.
Her voting record on labor issues during her decade as a State Senator is 92%. This includes advocacy of a higher minimum wage, pegged to inflation, guaranteed sick days and protection of public employee health and pension benefits. In 2001, she received the Hubert Humphrey Friend of Labor Award from the Middlesex County AFL-CIO Central Labor Council. She has consistently stood for collective bargaining as a bedrock principle in public employee labor relations.
As a candidate for governor, Buono has urged Governor Christie to accept federal funding under Obamacare to expand Medicaid to 300,000 needy New Jerseyans.
Senator Buono’s other accomplishments include New Jersey "Anti-Bullying Law", which requires school districts to implement anti-harassment and bullying prevention policies, consumer protection measures restricting telemarketing and a ban on the practice of predatory lending in which lenders issue loans with hidden costs and excessive fees to homeowners.
As stated on her website, “Buono believes we need to fight for those on Main Street, so they get the same advantages afforded the politically connected on Wall Street.” She has recently attacked Governor Christie’s priorities as “empowering millionaires, weakening the working class and allowing our education system to suffer.” Based on her record, this is not campaign hype, but an accurate depiction of her political outlook.
Tim Haresign, Council President commented, " Senator Buono has demonstrated time and time again that she is a true friend to the working people of this state. We need a leader of this state who will take action to support the middle class. Under the Christie administration New Jersey has the worst job creation numbers of any state in the country and has suffered big cuts to funding in education. Senator Buono is dedicated to reversing these trends and fighting for a brighter future for the workers and students of the New Jersey."
Haresign also stated that “Christie may be riding high in the polls, but we have nine months to mount a powerful effort on behalf of Senator Buono. Christie’s re-election could have dire consequences that could bring about a debacle that rivals Wisconsin, where public employees lost collective bargaining rights, or Indiana, which just became a “right to work” state. These types of losses ultimately result in lower wages and benefits for all workers United with other public and private sector unions and progressive forces in the State, we can win. In fact, we MUST win.”
