After announcing a vote was to take place on Thursday?regarding his aid bill, Democratic Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto ended up calling off the vote, as lawmakers continue to disagree on what should be done about Atlantic City. Supposedly, lawmakers may meet today to try and come up with a compromise.
On Thursday, the bill for the aid package, created by Prieto, was set to be voted upon by 11 a.m. According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, the leaders were trying to count potential votes before Prieto announced the vote on the measure was cancelled.
Supposedly, Prieto and Senate President Steve Sweeney, who has a rival aid package bill, would be meeting today to try and come to a compromise on how Atlantic City should be helped by the state. However, Sweeney denies that there will be any meeting taking place.
The next opportunity for the measure to be voted on will be this coming Wednesday. However, the measure is considered already dead in the Senate as Sweeney is pushing his own legislation. Sweeney’s bill has the backing of Governor Chris Christie, who has stated that the measure is the only one he plans on signing. The governor also stated that he hopes the failure for Prieto’s bill to be voted upon on Thursday will lead lawmakers to put their support behind Sweeney’s measure.
The circumstances in Atlantic City only grow worse as the legislators try to come up with a solution to solve the issue. Many areas of the city have been hurt financially including the police department. According to the head of Atlantic City’s Police Union, Thomas ‘T.J.’ Moynihan, the police force will be paid this week after not being paid for a month, as commented to the review journal.