Marc Kovar
Executive Vice-President
Your presence filled
the bill
Driving to Trenton on the morning of March 23, I didn’t really
feel that nervous, even though our pension bill was about to
come up for a vote in the State Assembly. We had put out a call
two days earlier asking members to come to the State House
and show elected officials their support for the bill.
My phone was going off the entire drive. State Delegates were
returning my calls, letting me know that four of their members
were coming. Or eight. Or 10.
By the time many of the assembly representatives showed
up at the State House for their morning caucuses, we had more
than 300 members filling the hallways and reinforcing our mes-
sage to the elected officials. Along with our PFRS brothers and
sisters from the FMBA, that presence is what turned the assem-
bly vote into a 61-4 landslide (with 10 abstentions).
Without our membership and your support of our PAC, this
never would have happened. As I walked around the State
House, I talked with one member, then another and another,
who had just come off midnights, got in the car and headed to
Trenton. And others who came on their day off. Some even took
a vacation day to be there.
I think this response, this presence shows that our members
answer the call because they know we’re not just calling for any-
thing. Every time we call, the response gets bigger and bigger.
It’s like when you’re on the street and respond to an incident or
something happens on a cell block in a prison unit: You call for
backup and you expect everybody to come running. And they
do. And you do.
The response gets bigger and bigger every time we call. We
don’t take it for granted. Without you behind us, we might as
well close the doors. You know we are not calling for the heck of
it, and I am so thankful you come running.
Make no mistake about how important your presence has
become. When that day began, we were concerned about sev-
eral assembly reps who would follow their party line and vote
no. But you talked to them before they went into caucus and af-
ter they came out, and several no votes turned into abstentions
because of your support, your presence and respect for how
important the NJ State PBA has become to our elected officials.
In addition to thanking every member for creating that im-
pact and helping us get the pension bill passed through the
state Senate and Assembly, State President Pat Colligan and I
also want to thank Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto and Sen-
ate President Steve Sweeney for their leadership. And thank you
to all the elected officials – Democrats and Republicans – who
realized how beneficial it is for the state and law enforcement
officers and firefighters to have an independently run PFRS. Of
course, we wouldn’t even have a bill without the relentless work
from PBA Director of Government Affairs Rob Nixon and the
leadership of NJ State FMBA President Ed Donnelly and assis-
tance from pension consultant Fred Beaver.
PHOTO BY ED CARATTINI, JR.
However, we cannot rest on these laurels for too long. I can
tell you another call is coming soon. We are entering political
action season for June’s Senate and Assembly primary elec-
tions. We have several districts that will be heated races, and we
are already planning to put our support behind candidates who
have supported us, or who we need to support us.
Much of our political action also will be devoted to getting
the vote out in the governor’s race for Phil Murphy, the Demo-
cratic candidate the NJ State PBA has endorsed. This will be the
most important political action we have ever taken on, and we
need every member to be part of the effort.
These calls will come from you. Several Locals I have visited
the past few years have their own halls, and these are perfect
locations to set up phone banks. We will get you the phones. We
will get you the food. We will have a professional person from
the Democratic and/or Republican party come in to help. We
just need a commitment from you.
Commitment is the key. I remember eight years ago, I was
preparing food in the kitchen for the State PBA holiday par-
ty, and I learned that you can’t sit on your butt and expect the
union leadership to do all the work. Members need to be active
because t hat’s how we’re going to get a governor and represen-
tatives elected who can help reduce our out-of-pocket expens-
es for health insurance and benefits.
Your presence will make the difference in the primaries and
the general election in November, especially with the governor’s
race, and the relationships you build with candidates along the
way will continue to make the PBA strong in Trenton, as well as
in county and municipal government.
We need three or four hours a day on the primary and general
election days and any other time you can give. That will make a
difference for the rest of your career. d
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