www.njcopsmagazine.com
n
FEBRUARY 2015
35
Let’s have some Fund
NJ State PBA PAC Fund
can create the political
impact needed to best
serve members
nBY MITCHELL KRUGEL
NJ State PBA members flocked to President Pat Colligan on this first morning of
the 2015 Collective Bargaining Seminar.
On another day, this might have played
like the line at the complaint window or
one of those good old-fashioned twitchand-moan sessions.
But like teammates waiting to greet the
guy who hit the game-winning home run,
members lined up on this day to say congrats, way to go and give ‘em hell. And this
day very well may have marked a day of
reckoning for the NJ State PBA that the
fight is on, that the biggest public safety
union in New Jersey can continue to flex
its muscle in the state’s political arena.
NJ State PBA members flocked to President Colligan to express their overwhelming
endorsement
of
the
organization’s new Political Action Committee (PAC) Fund. Invoices billing members $18 this year for the PAC Fund went
out in mid-January, but already the
wherewithal to support political candidates that can further the PBA’s initiatives
is getting members stoked.
“Today was a great day with the start of
this when a lot of people who I’ve never
met before came up to me and said, ‘We
feel like there’s a new spirit in the air,’”
revealed President Colligan on Feb. 4 from
Caesar’s in Atlantic City, where the PBA
held its state meeting the day before and
then the Collective Bargaining Seminar
the rest of the week.
“I think I’ve been stopped 10 times
already this morning by people saying,
‘Hey, we love what you’re doing. We feel
invigorated,’” Mr. President continued.
“The PAC Fund gives us a tool to impact
political races across the state, and when
you affect an election, that’s not forgotten
for a long time.”
The PAC Fund is another tool, a big tool
– the big wrench, as the President called it
– to play in a New Jersey political arena
PHOTO BY JOHN HULSE
Retired Members Local 600 made the first donation to the NJ State PBA PAC Fund in January.
that, in this era, values campaign contributions more so than endorsements.
Already, Locals are making contributions
beyond the $18 per member to the fund.
And the PBA has formed a PAC Committee with a member from each county to
begin identifying which candidates in the
November State Senate and Assembly
races – and some at the county level – are
most worthy of support that can ensure
supporting the union’s needs.
“If members don’t buy into this, then
we should just close the PBA doors and
give up,” charges State PBA Executive
Vice-President Marc Kovar. “This is the
best response we can give to fight the battle, and, finally, I think our members are
getting motivated, and I believe they are
buying in.”
Retired Members Local 600 was among
the first to step up with a ceremonial contribution of $2,000 to the PAC Fund. The
impact of this seems additionally significant because President Colligan has
asked Local 600 members, who have
obvious urgency, to lend “feet on the
ground” effort to follow up PAC Fund
contributions to candidates. Local 600
members have responded that they are
ready to lend legs to the effort.
Other signs of acceptance worth noting
include the unanimous approval the PAC
Fund received when brought to a vote at
the December PBA State Meeting. During
that meeting, members who stepped up
to the microphone to express an opinion
about the PAC Fund were also
unanimous with their comments supporting the idea.
The State PBA leadership also anticipates more response like Wood-Ridge
Local 313. The Local’s bill for PAC Fund
contributions was in the $400-$500 range,
but its members stepped up recently with
a $5,000 contribution.
“I think it was a very good idea to take a
pro-active stance to give the funding to
President Colligan to go forward and get
some of the PBA’s agenda pushed
through,” submitted Paul Mazzeo, State
Delegate for Howell Township Local 228
and a member of the PAC Committee.
“Money is power, and a lot of members
are enthused that it’s something we can
use as a tool to not only educate
legislators about our needs but to also
support candidates who are looking to
support police officers.”
The PAC Fund is the latest initiative
from the NJ State PBA to traverse the legislative route to regain lost benefits and
pension contributions. The success of
Colligan and Kovar, combining with PBA
Director of Government Affairs Rob
Nixon, on the campaign to meet with
every legislator and the PBA Day at the