Editors note: The following column by Dan Jacobson was originally published in the June 16, 2011 edition of the triCityNews. It was written before the recent agreement of pension and health care reform struck by Governor Christie, Senate President Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Oliver.
By Dan Jacobson
Any day now, you’ll see our Republican Governor and Democratic legislative leaders announce a deal to “reform” our state pension system.
Don’t believe it. This is a problem requiring 20 years of fiscal discipline. These people can’t see beyond the next election in 20 weeks.
Our state government is $121 billion short of what’s needed to pay projected pension and retiree health benefits. How bad is it? This year’s proposed state budget is only $29.4 billion.
In other words, we’re bankrupt.
Remember the rioting in Greece last year? You bet there could be tear gas over Trenton if this isn’t fixed. And I’m not optimistic.
Last week, I announced I’m running for the state Assembly as an Independent. So let me piss off everyone by outlining what needs to be done. And it’s ugly. No way around it.
First, this problem must be ripped away from the politicians. I’d propose a state constitutional amendment – requiring voter approval – to establish an independent Board of Trustees to administer the pension and retirement health benefits system.
Each year, these independent Trustees would recalculate the total projected shortfall the state faces. No fudging the numbers by politicians. And the Board of Trustees would develop and oversee a long-term plan to restore the system – and thus the state’s finances – to solvency.
In addition, the Board would determine the annual contribution to the system – and it would have to be paid by the state. The elected officials have underfunded it for 15 years. With a constitutional amendment, that would end. No more cheating. We’d pay what’s needed to fix the problem.
And the Board of Trustees would be empowered to do what the politicians can’t: Set up a plan of benefit cuts and tax increases to fix the system by spreading the pain as widely as possible. And the wider it’s spread, the less it hurts everyone individually. Everyone has got to take a hit. We’re all in this mess together.
By the way, those benefit cuts would affect current and future retires already in the system. There’s no other way to do it. Elected officials only talk about changing the benefits for new employees. That’s not enough. So I envision everyone equally screaming – taxpayers, retirees, future retirees – when the Trustees propose a plan to fix this mess. Ironically, that way you know it’s fair.
But this is not a dictatorship. The rescue plan from the Board of Trustees would be submitted for voter approval.
If voters reject it, the Pension Trustees would simply take what’s needed every year from the state Treasury to ensure the system’s solvency. In that scenario, the three-ring circus in the State House – the Governor, the Assembly and the Senate – would figure out how to pay that annual bill. Of course, that will be a mess. But the bill would be paid. No more underfunding the system. No more postponing Judgment Day. I’d rather face it on our terms.
There you have it. That’s the basic outlines of my proposal. Here’s some more details:
The Board of Pension Trustees would be non-political like Judges. They’d be appointed by the Governor with the consent of the state Senate. None would have business or financial connection to unions for at least a decade, if not more. They’d have long and staggered terms as Trustees to minimize political interference.
And in putting together a rescue plan, their directive in the constitutional amendment would be quite specific: To implement a mix of both benefit cuts and tax increases – and it would specifically require both – to spread the burden as equitably as possible across all the citizens of this state.
Sure, that would require subjective judgments. There’s no mathematical formula to achieve this. But at least a rescue plan by the Trustees would be made in good faith by non-political appointees – not politicians seeking reelection. And voters would have the final say.
In other words, we’d face this problem like adults. We’d empower an independent group of people to tell us the truth. And propose a solution for us to consider. We’d then make the final call in a statewide vote.
Sure sounds better than tear gas canisters fired at protestors when a bankrupt state can’t pay its bills – and people become more outraged than anything we’ve ever seen in New Jersey.
But maybe all is not lost. Take the sentiment of retired state worker Vincent Lobascio, 85. He’s ready to sacrifice some of his benefits. Let’s hope most other citizens share his views – or we’re done.
“I’m willing to make my contribution, and I’m a retired guy,” the World War II combat veteran told the Asbury Park Press in a story about the pension crisis. “But don’t kill me.”
I’m with Mr. Lobascio. This 49 year-old taxpayer would pay more to solve this mess – just don’t kill me either. We’re all adults. We all know something must be done. Just spread that burden around as widely as possible. In the end, the solution is likely reasonable.
But politicians can’t do that because they’re competing for the support of blocs of voters – whether liberal union members or anti-tax conservatives. It’s all about getting elected. In fact, both those voter blocs I just mentioned will be outraged at this column.
Oh well. So I’ll get to remain a private citizen. Wow, what a tragedy.
So when you see our Republican Governor and Democratic legislative leaders announce some deal to address this problem, remember this: It’s all about the election in five months when the Senate and Assembly are up for grabs. It’s not a permanent deal. It can always be reversed or changed later. And you bet that will happen when the economy starts to do better and no one is paying attention.
Sure, they’ll make some progress with their deal – just enough to con you to think something is getting done. But not on a scale that really solves this problem. There’s not enough political upside and way too much political downside. The state has never faced a challenge this big. Plus, I don’t believe any figures or estimates these clowns throw around. They’re all biased toward getting reelected.
But a constitutional amendment empowering an independent Board of Trustees goes a long way toward eliminating political mischief.
And in my proposal, we’d even get to vote on any rescue plans from the Trustees. If they want to modify a rescue plan later, we’d all vote on that too. If any plan is rejected, the state would still fully fund the retirement system every year and stop the cheating. Imagine how different everything would be if that was done for the past 15 years.
Hey, such a constitutional amendment sounds reasonable to me. That means it doesn’t have a chance in Trenton.
So in the most unlikely event I get elected to the Assembly – only one Independent has done so in 50 years – at least there’d be one person down there speaking the truth about the most dangerous problem this state has ever faced.
(The 11th District where I’m running includes: Asbury Park, Long Branch, Red Bank, Ocean Township, Neptune, Neptune City, Interlaken, Deal, Allenhurst, Loch Arbour, West Long Branch, Eatontown, Shrewsbury Borough, Shrewsbury Township, Tinton Falls, Colts Neck, Freehold Township and Freehold Borough.)
Assembly bill A3242, the one that would allow school districts to ask, without your informed consent, your sons and daughters if they have ever had oral sex and how much money you earn, may not be dead yet.
The bill was pulled from the Assembly Education Committee’s calendar yesterday due to the overwhelming response in opposition to the bill from MMM and RightDirection readers. That should have killed the bill until at least the fall when the legislature returns from its summer recess.
However, our spies deep within the Democratic Assembly Caucus tell us that the bill’s remaining sponsors are prevailing upon Speaker Shelia Oliver to post the bill for a vote before the full Assembly next Thursday, bypassing committee hearings.
Sneaky sneaky sneaky. Good thing we have spies.
The Assembly does have a voting session next Thursday, the 23rd, but none of the bills to be voted on have been posted yet.
MMM will be monitoring the board. Be ready to make phone calls and send emails. Even if A3242 is not posted, it is likely that there will be at least one bill (A3839 — end of life counseling AKA death panels) that will need opposition.
Granny Breslow felt uncomfortable by the religious imagery, the convocation and hymns at her grand daughter’s graduation last year and contacted the ACLU to put a stop to it. Rather than litigate, the Neptune Board of Education negotiated a comprise that required no convocation, that religious banners in the auditorium would be covered and that the cross on the auditorium will not be lit before or during the ceremony.
The tradition was spared but many in the community were outraged that one out of town malcontent could bully the Board of Ed in to altering the ceremony at all. Many felt the Board should not have complied with any of the ACLU’s demands.
In the facebook group that was created to rally public support to keep the graduation at the Great Auditorium, much of the chatter since the deal was made with the ACLU has focused on bringing religious expression into the graduation ceremony. There has been talk of community members wearing necklaces with lit crosses and breaking out in prayer before, during and after the ceremony.
MMM supports the community members in making authentic religious expressions. They should avoid the temptation to hijack the graduation by turning it into an angry protest. Keep the focus on celebrating the accomplishments and the futures of the graduating high school seniors.
For those of you who missed it, the first LaRossa and Gallagher Radio Show featuring former Senator Richard LaRossa and your favorite blogger was broadcast on Tuesday afternoon at 5PM on WIFI 1460 AM and on the Internet at WIFIAM1460.com
Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore was our first guest. As my friend James said after the show, we exposed Fiore as a Republican as he discussed the challenges and accomplishments of the Middletown Township Committee in putting together their first budget in the era of the 2% cap.
At the 48:28 mark of the show we had an exclusive guest call in, Congressman Anthony Weiner. Keep in mind the show was on Tuesday. Weiner was still in denial of his fate.
Trenton—Legislation sponsored by Senators Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth/Mercer) and Loretta Weinberg (D- Bergen) that would repeal certain obsolete, antiquated statutes containing demeaning language to women was passed by the Assembly Judiciary Committee today. The bill, S-2665/A-3841, would repeal a number of statues on the books which either do not accurately reflect the status of women in the 21st Century, or contain language which would be considered sexist or demeaning under today’s standards.
“It is bad enough these laws existed at all, much less remain on the books,” Beck said. “Our society has moved on from an era where the rights of women were deliberately limited by the Government, and it is time the law books do the same”
The laws which would be repealed are:
The “Married Woman’s Property Acts,” a law first enacted in the 1800s to codify married women’s right to own, control, and dispose of property. At the time of enactment, the law was considered an advance for women over the common law which imposed restrictions on a women’s legal and property rights. However, the law was made obsolete with the passage of the New Jersey Constitution and the Law Against Discrimination, along with any number of federal laws outlining a woman’s rights as being equal to men’s rights;
The “Bar by consent to ravisher law,” which provides that, “if a wife after being ravished, consent to the ravisher, she shall be disabled and forever barred from having her jointure or dower, unless her husband is voluntarily reconciled to her and permits her to dwell with him, in which case she shall be restored to her jointure or dower;”
The “Immediate marriage if arrested upon criminal charge law,” which states, “if a person is arrested upon a criminal charge, involving an accusation of bastardy, rape, fornication or of having had carnal knowledge of an unmarried female, and the accused person consents to marry such female, any licensing officer is authorized to immediately issue a marriage license irrespective of the provisions of [marriage requirements].”
Middletown—Senator Joe Kyrillos, co-prime sponsor of legislation establishing New Jersey’s landmark Environmental Infrastructure Trust (EIT), is pleased to announce that special financing for the cleanup of Middletown’s Shadow Lake has cleared the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee today:
“It has been a very long fight for the residents of this community,” said Kyrillos. “I am thrilled that the financing for this project is finally nearing approval. The Environmental Infrastructure Trust was established for just this purpose- to restore contaminated natural treasures and improve the environmental quality of our communities.”
If approved by the Legislature, the bill appropriates $2.7 million in low interest financing for the Township of Middletown to dredge the Shadow Lake in order to remove contaminated sediments at the bottom of the lake. The dredge spoils will be transported to a properly licensed facility off site.
“Thanks to the efforts of Senator Kyrillos the residents of the communities surrounding Shadow Lake can rest easier knowing that a project more than a decade in the making is nearing reality,” said Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore. “In addition to the Senator’s efforts in helping secure financing for this project, he has assisted the Township with the NJDEP to find a qualified site outside of Middletown for disposal of the dredge spoils.”
The legislation now heads to the full Senate for consideration.
The Wall Street Journal says that Pallone pocketed just under $25K after splitting the prize with his father and brother. Little raised no money and spent $5K on her campaign according to her most recent FEC reports.
However, Pallone’s winnings and war chest can’t buy him love from the New Jersey Redistricting Commission now that his ally Maggie Moran has been booted off the commission, just as NJ.com’s Auditor predicted.
The Democrats on the Redistricting Commission are former Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts, former Assemblywoman Nilsa Cruz-Perez, former Assemblyman Michael Baker of East Brunswick, former Pascrell Chief of Staff Ed Farmer, former Corzine deputy chief-of-staff Jeannine LaRue of Trenton, and Essex County Democratic Committee Chairman Phil Thigpen.
The Republicans are political strategist Mike DuHaime, former Burlington County Freeholder Director Aubrey Fenton, Morris County attorney Eric Jaso, Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, Cape May Freeholder Susan Sheppard and National Federation of Republican Woman President Sherine El-Abd.
Not a Pallone loyalist on the list. As the senior Democrat in the NJ congressional delegation, Pallone’s seat should be safe from redistricting. However the commission is heavy with members loyal to Democratic power broker Donald Norcross and Republican Governor Chris Christie, neither of whom are fans of Pallone.
By the population numbers, the northeast part of the state should lose a congressional district when the new map is adopted. But Donald Payne’s 10th and Albio Sires’ 13th are minority majority districts that have to be protected. Combining Bill Pascrell’s 8th district with Steve Rothman’s 9th would make sense on paper, but the Democrats will never agree to surrender a seat without an election.
After both sides propose maps that guarantee the other side loses a seat, the commission will likely settle on a map that pits one incumbent from each party against each other.
MMM would love to see the southeast portion of Pallone’s district combined with Congressman Chris Smith’s district. Smith would crush Pallone. Phoney Palloney would probably retire from the House and run for governor rather than face Smith head to head.
The other reason we would love to see such a district is because it would likely mean that the Northern Monmouth portion of CD 6 would be folded into Rush Holt’s CD 12, setting up a four way race for the GOP nomination to unseat Holt between Strong New Jersey Chairwoman Diane Gooch, Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre (the only mayor in the universe to lower property taxes four years in a row), Little, and Lincoln Club of NJ President Scott Sipprelle. That would be a great race for web traffic and advertising revenue!
The Assembly Education Committee pulled bill A3242, legislation already passed by the State Senate, that would allow school districts to administer surveys that pry into the private lives of students and their families without parental consent, from the hearing calendar today due to the overwhelming public outcry legislators have received since MMM brought the bill to light on Tuesday evening.
Good job MMM readers!
Special thanks goes out to Carolee Adams, President of the Eagle Forum of New Jersey. Adams first brought this legislation to our attention. Her lobbying efforts contributed to the passage of the current law that requires parental consent for intrusive student surveys that was passed during the lame duck session of 2001-2002.
MMM and Adams will continue to monitor the bill and alert you should the Assembly Education Committee reschedule a hearing.
MMM has just heard that 11th district Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini is withdrawing her sponsorship of Assembly bill A3242, a law that would allow school districts to survey students about their families’ political affiliations; sexual behaviors and attitudes; mental illnesses and psychological problems; illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, and demeaning behavior; critical appraisals of other individuals with whom a respondent has a close family relationship; legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships such has those of lawyers, physicians or ministers; income and social security number; all without parental consent.
The Assembly Education Committee has a hearing scheduled on the bill this afternoon.
Those who don’t mind the government, school districts, nonprofits and federal grantees asking their children intimate personal information about themselves and their families don’t need to do anything.
Those who object should call members of the Assembly Education Committee:
Scott Rumana – 973 237 1362
Joseph Mallone – 609 298 6250
Paul Moriarty – 856 232 6700
Ruben Ramos – 201 714 4960
Pat Diegnan – 908 757 1677
Bonnie Watson – 609 292 0500
David Wolfe – 732 840 9028
Ralph Caputo – 973 450 0484
Elease Evans – 973 247 1521
Mila Jasey – 973 762 1886
Brian Rumpf – 609 693 6700
The rationale for this bill is that federal grantees and nonprofits have been frustrated in their attempts to get the personal information. In Massachusetts middle school students, 7th and 8th graders, were recently asked how many sexual partners they have had, about condom use and their oral sexual behavior. The survey was conducted by a local social services agency in cooperation with the federal Center for Disease Control, according to FoxNews.
The school principle acknowledged that the graphic survey took place but said the school had nothing to do with the content and that they were required to administer the survey to comply with a federal grant.
Strong New Jersey Chairwoman Diane Gooch issued a statement this morning condemning A3242:
“Liberals in the state legislature are attempting to hijack the private information of New Jersey’s students with this recent effort to collect personal data through the school districts. It is an affront to our sensibilities and our constitutional rights. Big brother lives somewhere, but it shouldn’t be Trenton.”
