In the first of a two-part interview, State Senator Loretta Weinberg told Managing Editor Mike Schneider that she is confident that Democrats will have enough votes to pass Marriage Equality legislation. “I’m fully confident that we have the votes to pass marriage equality in both the Senate and the Assembly,” said Weinberg. The Senate vote, she said, will be on Monday February 13
According to Weinberg, attitudes towards same-sex couples and gay marriage are evolving within society and even among lawmakers, a reference to Senate President Steve Sweeney’s change of position on the issue.
She strongly opposes putting the question to a referendum, saying “We don’t put equal justice ideas on the ballot.” She brought up the fact that when women’s right to vote was made a referendum question in New Jersey, it failed and required the legislature to pass it.
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When asked about Gov. Chris Christie’s Supreme Court nominees, Weinberg said she would not use senatorial courtesy to block the nominations and promised to examine their credentials thoroughly.
Weinberg also spoke of bills that she is sponsoring including updates to the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) and the Open Public Meetings Act to accommodate new technology and the Internet. Laws requiring greater transparency and access to public records are necessary she said “to make sure that public officials know that everything we do is owned by the people who sent us to do it.”
Another bill she is pushing is one involving EZ Pass. She supports installing technology that lets drivers know exactly how much they are paying every time they use EZ Pass.
Weinberg also said she and the Democrats are looking for ways to lower property taxes which she cites as the real burdensome tax on New Jersey residents — not income taxes. She rejects Christie’s proposal for an across the board 10 percent income tax cut that she said “will give a millionaire seven or eight thousand dollars a year and somebody who’s earning $50,000 a year, $80 dollars in reduction.”