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State Sen. Kevin O'Toole said he was inspired by the Democrats in the U.S. Senate, who recently abolished the filibuster for most of the president's nominations.

(Star-Ledger file photo )

TRENTON — One of Gov. Chris Christie's closest allies in the state Legislature wants to ban New Jersey's version of the filibuster so that the governor can fill two vacancies on the state Supreme Court.

State Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex) introduced a resolution on Monday that would put a 90-day time limit on hearing nominations to the Supreme Court. If the Senate refuses to vote within 90 days, the nominee would win confirmation automatically.

O'Toole said he was inspired by the Democrats in the U.S. Senate, who last month abolished the filibuster for most judicial and executive appointments and have since begun to confirm a raft of President Obama's stalled nominations.

The Senate kept the filibuster for U.S. Supreme Court nominees, however.

"Voters elected Governor Christie because they agree with his vision for New Jersey and that begins by having a state Supreme Court that interprets the law, rather than initiating new ways to spend billions of the people’s tax dollars," O’Toole said in a statement today. "Senate Democrats tried to ride it out until Governor Christie’s term expired, but the voters again made it known by overwhelmingly re-electing this governor that they want his nominees confirmed immediately."

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) today called O'Toole's proposal "absolutely ridiculous" and said voters also chose to retain Democratic majorities in the Legislature to keep Christie in check.

"We already have the most powerful chief executive position in the whole country," Scutari said, noting that the state constitution gives New Jersey's governor many more powers than in other states. "We're not going to add to that by taking away the advice and consent process in the Senate."

A heated battle over the high court has been unfolding since Christie took office in 2010. The governor campaigned on a promise to tilt the court to the right, but state Democrats say a court dominated by Christie appointees would undermine key decisions that over the decades have ordered New Jersey to provide housing for its poorest residents and funding for urban schools.

The Democratic-controlled state Senate has approved two of Christie's nominees since 2011: Justices Faustino Fernandez-Vina and Anne Patterson. If his two remaining nominees are approved, Christie's appointees would become a majority on the seven-member Supreme Court.

Board of Public Utilities President Robert Hanna and Superior Court Judge David Bauman — an independent and a Republican, respectively — have been stonewalled by Democrats for more than a year without a hearing in the Judiciary Committee. Democrats have said they want those two seats to remain in Democratic hands.

Scutari said Republicans would have gotten their wish if they had won a majority in the Senate. The constitution says nothing about when to hold confirmation hearings or votes on nominees, he added.

"The constitution doesn't make this governor the lord of this state; it makes him the governor of this state," Scutari said. "The voters have spoken. They want to see us be a check on the enormous power of the governor ... and that's what we're going to do."

Democrats have also rejected two of Christie's nominees, questioning one's family finances and the other's lack of courtroom experience.

The New Jersey Senate does not technically have a filibuster for nominations. Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Scutari simply have refused to schedule confirmation hearings for Bauman and Hanna.

O'Toole, a close Christie supporter whom the governor unsuccessfully tried to install as minority leader last month, is a member of the Judiciary Committee and for months has been calling for an end to senatorial courtesy, an unwritten custom that allows any senator to block any nominee from his or her home county.

His resolution (SR132), however, would only ban senatorial courtesy for Supreme Court nominations.

While the battle continues, the court has two senior appellate judges filling the vacancies on a temporary basis.

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