San Diego & New Jersey Latest News
A plan to reduce library hours, scale back supporting at parks and beaches, eliminate long-standing public-safety programs and lay off 200 workers to aid close a 179 million budget insufficiency won unwilling sanction yesterday from the San Diego City Council.
The council largely sided with Mayor Jerry Sanders by adopting his cuts in a 7-1 vote, notwithstanding complaints from a group of city workers that public safety would suffer greatly.
A resolute New Jersey Senate vote on same-sex matrimony, awaited to be held today, was called off late yesterday as advocates struggled to find the support needed for transition.
The measures sponsors, Sens. Raymond Lesniak (D., Union) and Loretta Weinberg (D., Bergen), asked for the put off, hoping the bill would begin moving through the Assembly, where it is believed to have more solid support.
But no Assembly hearing has been scheduled.
The maneuvering appeared to be a impediment for the same-sex matrimony movement, which has been focused on New Jersey since the shatter of a similar measure in New York state last week.
The Senate is seen as the biggest political obstacle to making New Jersey the next state to let gay and lesbian couples to wed.
Some supporters of gay rights had hoped a public vote today could force lawmakers to take a stand and potentially roust the last votes needed.
New Jersey has enabled civil unions for gay couples for almost three years, but critics say the unions have failed to give gay couples the same protections offered by marriages, as required by a court ruling.
In testimony Monday, gay and lesbian couples said they had been denied admission to their spouse in hospitals and advantage such as health insurance under civil unions.