Late last year, a bill to withdraw the state from the interstate compact that created the Waterfront Commission—once vetoed by Christie—was passed by the Legislature. The only person to vote against the bill was Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R-Somerset).
“I’m always suspect when certain bills are being fast-tracked, particularly during the lame duck session,” he said. “This certainly was fast-tracked.”
The lawmaker said while supporters argued the commission was antiquated and overregulating the industry, he was not convinced.
“The signing ended a six-decade agreement on how to oversee the waterfront. In my mind, that warranted extensive hearings. We didn’t do that,” he said. “It smacked of a deal.”
The vote came just weeks after the union’s $165,000 in campaign contributions to five county and state Democratic political committees in the fall, according to ELEC records.
Why did the union contribute so much?
“The International Longshoremen’s Association Committee on Political Education supports pro-union candidates and pro-port development activities,” said ILA spokesman Jim McNamara.
New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), who was the prime sponsor of the measure that would effectively kill the Waterfront Commission, did not respond to repeated requests through his spokesman for an interview.
McNamara said it was the second time the Legislature voted to eliminate the commission.
“There was long time and strong support for this legislation from Democrats and Republicans,” the union spokesman said.
The Waterfront Commission in January went to federal court to challenge the measure, leading to the temporary injunction that was issued by Judge Wigenton on June 1.
While the issue of whether New Jersey can legally walk away has yet to be decided, the judge left little question the state would likely not prevail.
"The commission has undertaken scores of investigations that have led to the conviction of hundreds of individuals who were conducting illicit activities in the port, including, but not limited to, drug trafficking, theft, racketeering, illegal gambling, loansharking, and murder. In addition to investigating criminal activity, the commission has also worked to expose the continued corrupt and discriminatory hiring practices on the waterfront and to implement measures to address them," she wrote.
Rejecting the state's argument that it could unilaterally withdraw from the agreement with New York that established the Waterfront Commission, the judge said interstate compacts that require congressional consent are not merely bi-state contracts, but also federal statutes.
"This court will not construe the compact in a manner that rewrites the agreement to include the right to unilateral withdrawal," she wrote.
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