TRENTON A critical group of Essex County lawmakers will present a laundry list of demands to Senate President Stephen Sweeney tomorrow that must be satisfied before they will support a controversial overhaul of the states higher education system, The Star-Ledger has learned.

The potentially long and expensive list which includes granting Rutgers-Newark unprecedented autonomy and pumping millions of state taxpayer dollars into Newarks University Hospital and medical school was laid out in a conference call today headed by Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) and Newark Mayor Cory Booker, according to sources familiar with the demands.

The sources requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak for the delegation.

The last-minute demands add yet another layer of complexity to a political drama that was already beset with uncertainty and a deadline of July 1 that was imposed by Gov. Chris Christie, who is intent on rearranging the structure of several hospitals, universities and medical institutions in the state.

Oliver told the group of lawmakers that if the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark were going to lose revenue-generating assets, it must not be left to wither and die.

Under the current proposal, Rutgers University would absorb UMDNJs Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, public health school and cancer institute in New Brunswick-Piscataway. Most of the remaining pieces of UMDNJ would be renamed New Jersey Health Sciences University, while University Hospital would remain tethered with UMDNJ but come under control of a public-private partnership.

Oliver also told the group today that UMDNJ is saddled with debt that must be lightened or else the institution is doomed for failure, sources say. She said Rutgers University must pick up some of the debt service along with state taxpayers in the form of annual appropriations, sources say.

She also said a portion of UMDNJs debt also must be refinanced through the budget or as part of a broader higher education capital plan currently under consideration and the state must also boost its subsidies to University Hospital, sources say.

Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said, There is wide spread support across New Jersey for education centers of excellence and it is our hope that we can work for all of New Jersey, not just northern New Jersey in getting the reorganization accomplished.

He added, We can not just consider parochial interests.

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Essex County lawmakers to present demands regarding N.J.'s higher education overhaul