Governor Chris Christie was in great form this morning as he met with over 200 residents who came out in the snow for a Town Hall meeting in Middletown.
About 40 minutes into the meeting Christie turned to the residents for questions. The first questioner, a councilman from a town with a large regional high school, asked the governor if there was a way that students who drive themselves to school could sign a waiver giving up their school busing privileges to that the district could save money on transportation costs.
Note the reactions of the three lawyers sitting directly behind the governor.
Governor Chris Christie says that the rest of America is looking to New Jersey for the way forward in restoring fiscal sanity to state governments after decades of kicking the can down the road to the next generation. Christie rightly says the day of reckoning has arrived and that he is the man to lead New Jersey back to prosperity to provide the rest of the country an example of how to do it.
On the question of government employee pensions and health care benefits, the governor has proposed a series of reforms that will reduce New Jersey’s unfunded liabilities from a current estimate of $183 billion to $23 billion in 30 years. Christie’s reforms would require all government employees to contribute 8.5% of their salaries to their pensions, raise the retirement age from 62 to 65, roll back the 9% increase the Republican legislature gave away a decade ago, and reduce the anticipated return of the pension investments from 8.5% per year to 7.5%. Government employees would have to pay 30% of their health care premiums, with the government picking up the other 70%.
That sounds like a good plan on paper. It assumes the current and future administrations and legislatures will fund their portions of the pension and health care obligations, which given recent history is a risky assumption. The 7.5% projected return could easily turn out to be too optimistic. If the cost of heath care continues to escalate as it has over the last decade, deficits will continue to rise.
Still, Christie’s plan is a good answer to the question, “How do we save the pension and health care system from insolvency?”
As New Jersey, and many other states throughout the nation confront cumulative unfunded liabilities in the trillions of dollars, our leaders should confront a more fundamental question; “Why do we have defined pension benefits for government employees?”
Who besides government employees and union employees of once great corporations that have been bailed out by the federal government still get defined benefit pensions?
Are pensions necessary to attract qualified employees into government service?
Who is the pension system for? If it is for the citizenry, i.e. we the people get a better government, for us and by us, because we guarantee our employees lifetime benefits, then perhaps it is appropriate to tax money out of the private economy to provide those benefits.
But can anyone really make that argument? I would love to hear it.
Will government jobs really go unfilled if we don’t have a pension system? Will we get less qualified employees? Where will the more qualified employees go to work? Where will they find employment that guarantees a level of income for their retirement?
Nowhere, I think. If a reader can correct me on that, please do.
The pension problem should be addressed inside the context of this more fundamental question; Why do we have a defined benefit pension system? Should we have such a system?
If New Jersey’s, and many other states’, pension systems were private company pension systems the federal government would have shut them down years ago in favor of 401K type plans.
That is what state governments, lead by Chris Christie of New Jersey, should do now. Liquidate the system and shut it down. Those who are already retired and within a short time of retirement should get the pensions they were promised.
The $40+ billion in the pension plan should be equitably distributed to its owners, the employees, and invested in retirement accounts of their own choosing. With 800,000 people in the system, each future retiree would get a healthy initial investment into their plan. Those with a longer terms of service would get more, with those who have paid less into the system getting less.
Going forward, just like the private sector, employees and employers should participate in pay as you go retirement plans.
The private sector addressed this problem 30 years ago. It is not rocket science. There is a model for solving the problem. Christie and the other governors, should follow that model.
InTheLobby and Capitol Quickies report that Governor Chris Chrisite told a statehouse rally of pro-life demonstrators, “I stand with you,” adding that he stands “with each and every one of those precious human lives.”
Our old Monmouth County friend Bob Jordan, now a statehouse reporter and blogger, quoted Christie on Capitol Quickies as follows:
“What we need to do each and every day is to live our lives in a way that encourages everyone to understand why this cause is so important,” Christie told those gathered. ”To show that we respect the life of every human being, and that every human being is one of God’s creatures and deserves the love and respect that God gives to all us.”
I was immediately reminded of the last time a governor stood on the statehouse steps and said “I stand with you.” That was back on June 19, 2006, five months into Jon Corzine’s term as governor. It was 11 days before Corzine and the Democratic legislature shut down the government.
That day, Corzine joined a rally of 10,000 public employees and declared, “I’ll stand with you for your pension rights …”
Maybe Trenton really has been turned upside down.
Governor Christie had quite a day today. In addition to his unequivocal remarks at the pro-life rally, the governor conditionally vetoed COAH legislation that failed to reform how affordable housing is provided in New Jersey and increases the unnecessary burden on the State’s municipalities.
In a statement announcing the veto, Christie said:
“If the goal of this legislation is to replace an already broken system for providing affordable housing with a common sense, predictable and achievable process, then this bill sorely misses the mark,” said Governor Christie. “The Senate has presented a considerably different version of the legislation I originally supported in June – one that was simple and sufficiently close to the recommendations contained in the March 19, 2010, report of the Housing Opportunity Task Force. This version perpetuates the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) nightmare by placing further burdens on municipalities and the environment while creating rather than eliminating additional bureaucracies in order to satisfy the needs of special interests. I believe this bill should be amended to return it to its original, beneficial form as passed by the Senate in June.”
The original version of S-1 passed by the Senate in June 2010 called for:
eliminating COAH and the arbitrary affordable housing numbers it assigned to municipalities
requiring that 1 out of every 10 newly constructed housing units be designated as affordable (towns with no growth would have no further affordable housing obligation other than to inventory and rehabilitate its existing affordable housing stock)
limiting State review of municipal housing plans
protection against builder’s remedy lawsuits for municipalities
elimination of commercial development fees, though residential development fees were permitted to be charged if a developer chose not to build affordable units on-site and decided to pay the residential development fee instead
In its current, unacceptable form, S-1:
requires 10% of all the housing units in every municipality in the State to be affordable
necessitates that 25% of the affordable housing obligation be met by inclusionary development, legislating sprawl by increasing the amount of mandated new housing by 500% to 700%.
creates a new regulated entity to review a municipality’s housing plans
causes towns to have to pay for two planners – one to draft the plan, and the other to certify it meets the requirements of the bill
provides no meaningful protection against builder’s remedy lawsuits
requires towns in the Highlands, Pinelands, Fort Monmouth and Meadowlands districts to have 15%to 20% of all new construction as affordable
As if that were not a full day’s work, Christie held a Town Hall Meeting in the Camden County borough of Chesilhurst this afternoon where in touted his pension and public employee health benefit reform package.
The highlights of the Governor’s “fiscal sanity” package are as follows:
Christie Reform Agenda for Public Employee Pensions – At a Glance
The current pension system is underfunded by $54 billion and, unless reforms are enacted, that number will grow to $183 billion by 2041, even if the taxpayers make all statutorily required pension fund contributions.
·Governor Christie’s reforms will reduce total pension underfunding from $183 billion in 2041 without reform to $23 billion in 2041, and
·Increase the aggregate funded ratio from the present level of 66% to more than 90% in 30 years.
A PDF of Governor Christie’s Reform Agenda proposal for pensions is attached to this release.
Christie Reform Agenda for Public Employee Health Benefits – At a Glance
Today, New Jersey’s unfunded liability, or future costs expected in the health benefits system, is $66.8 billion. New Jersey spends $4.3 billion annually on public employee and retiree health care costs, and the problem is only getting worse.
The cost for operating the health care benefits program for public employees and retirees is slowly sapping New Jersey’s budget to the point where it is becoming impossible for state and local government to fund critical priorities and bring rising deficits into line.
·Without immediate action, costs will increase by more than 40 percent over the next four years. By contrast, the average cost to an active public employee will increase by less than 10 percent over the same period.
·The cost of health benefits, as a percent of New Jersey’s annual budget, has grown from 4.5 percent in 2001 to more than 9 percent today.
Governor Christie’s reforms will restore fairness to the system by:
·Transitioning the cost-sharing in the system to a more realistic model,
·Offering more options for employees to choose from, and
·Switching to a system requiring employees to pay a percentage of their premium rather than a percentage of their salary.
Personally, I don’t think the pension reforms go far enough, but that will be the subject of a future post. For this post, I just appreciate how far we’ve come in one year under Christie’s leadership.
Governor Christie will be holding a Town Hall meeting in Middletown on Wednesday morning, 11 AM, at the VFW on Route 36. The doors open at 10:30. Seating is first come, first seated.
Former congressional candidate Anna Little told a meeting of the Highlands Republican Club that the composition of the New Jersey Supreme Court is unconstitutional and “we do not have a Chief Justice as far as I am concerned.” She said she would file suit to challenge the new congressional district map if the court continues to have a vacancy when and if Chief Justice Stuart Rabner appoints a tie-breaking vote to the redistricting commission.
“Governor Christie did not reappoint Judge Wallace, who is on hold-over status,” said Little, “Senator Sweeney won’t approve Wallace’s replacement because Wallace is a Democrat.”
Justice John Wallace left the court in May of 2010 as a result of Governor Christie declining to reappoint him. Democrats have charged that Christie is tampering with the independence of the judiciary. Senate President Steve Sweeney has refused to hold hearings on Christie’s nominee to the court, Morris County Attorney Anne Patterson.
In an opinion issued in December, Associate Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto asserted that the Chief Justice Rabner does not have the authority to appoint a temporary justice to fill the vacancy unless necessary to fill a quorum on the court. Rabner appointed Appellate Judge Edwin Stern to fill the court’s seventh seat. Five justices constitute a quorum. Rivera-Soto said he would refrain from participating in decisions so long as Stern sits on the court, declaring that Rabner’s appointment of Stern was unconstitutional. Rivera-Soto later modified his position, stating that he would vote and issue opinions unless he decides to abstain. In between the two statements, Rivera-Soto informed Christie that he would not seek to be reappointed when he term expires in September. Many Democrats, notably Sweeney and former Senate President/Acting Governor Richard Codey have called on Rivera -Soto to resign immediately.
Little caused herself some problems during the 2010 congressional campaign while flashing her constitutional scholar credentials. In an October 2010 column, Star Ledger columnist Tom Moran said of Little,
“One is left with the feeling that Little hasn’t done her homework. Politics is refreshed by new faces and perspectives, but the best rookies study hard before they swing this wildly. The tea party is bringing us a new breed. They are angry, as we are often told. But isn’t there something arrogant about this, too?”
MMM doesn’t often agree with Moran, but the shoe seems to fit in this case.
George Stephanopoulos: Will the tragedy in Tucson usher in the year of civility that President Obama called for last night? How will both parties get back to the business of facing our common challenges? Here to take on those questions with us this morning, one of the rising stars of the Republican Party, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Thanks for coming in this morning.
Governor Chris Christie: Thank you George.
George Stephanopoulos: Did the president strike the right cords last night?
Governor Chris Christie: Yes. He did.
George Stephanopoulos: What did you think of his speech.
Governor Chris Christie: I said I thought it was excellent. I thought he did exactly what you want a leader to do at a moment like this which is to remind us of the things that we have in common. Remind us of the things that unite us, rather than divide us. And to not try to play politics at all, and the president hit all those things last night. So, I was really happy to see what he did.
George Stephanopoulos: You’re out there all the time with your constituents. I know you’re doing another town hall meeting today. Is this something that you expect — does it feel to you like this is a moment for the entire country?
Governor Chris Christie: Yeah. Listen, I think we have to be reflective. I think we should be having this kind of reflection on a regular basis. Because as you know, this is not an unusual period of vitriol in our country. In politics you know, if you look back we can say almost every presidential campaign, that you’ve seen high levels of vitriol and anger, bitter things being said about people that they probably didn’t deserve to have said about them. I think we have to constantly be examining ourselves for how we act as a civilize society. Doesn’t mean we can’t disagree, of course we disagree. But we should look at this all the time, not just have a tragedy to spur us to do it. Because we have to treat each other with some level of civility. Even when we disagree with each other.
George Stephanopoulos: Meanwhile, Sarah Palin coming under some criticism after using the term “blood libel.” Do you think she knew what she was getting into with that?
Governor Chris Christie: I don’t know. I have no idea. But what I would say is I think — I don’t think anybody really believes that Governor Palin was trying to make someone get hurt or bring violence on. And I think she just should have said that and left it at that.
George Stephanopoulos: Let’s move on to your own state of the state. You were giving a big speech this week, as well. And in your speech, you took credit for turning New Jersey around. From being a basket case. But some of your critics, some of the top democrats in the state, say your priorities are misplaced. One counted the number of the times you used jobs in the speech, said it was only four. Your response?
Governor Chris Christie: Cause we’re creating jobs not talking about it. When I came into office, unemployment was over 10% in New Jersey and above the national average. We’re still too high, we’re at 9.2 %. But we’re down almost a full point in a year, and we’re below the national average now. Last month in November one of every —
George Stephanopoulos: Still above 9%.
Governor Chris Christie: Yeah, I said we’re not good enough. And what I said — I didn’t say we turned it around. What I said in the speech was, the state of the state is improving, getting better every day. And last month in November, the last month we have for jobs in New Jersey, one of every five private-sector jobs created in America was created in New Jersey. So, our policies are helping to create jobs and create a positive business environment where the private sector wants to grow again. You know you can talk all you want about jobs. It’s about creating them and putting people back to work.
George Stephanopoulos: One of our big issues is also education reform. The former Chancellor of the DC Schools Michelle Rhee was in the audience, watching your speech. The president has hit on those themes of educational reform a lot. Is this an issue, where republicans and democrats can find common Cause?
Governor Chris Christie: Absolutely. Michelle Rhee’s a Democrat. I had Mayor Cory Booker in the audience, as well. We’re working on reforming the Newark public schools together, with Mark Zuckerberg for facebook and the Challenge Grant to the city of Newark. And I’ve said from the time of the campaign, when I was running in 2009, that President Obama and I agree on this issue. Agree much more than he did with my predecessor on issues of really education reform. This is the transformational issue that can also bring both parties together, if we just rise above the interests, the special interests that want to protect the failed status quo.
George Stephanopoulos: Tip O’Neill said all politics is local. You came under criticism after the post-Christmas blizzard, including from Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
[Start of clip from MSNBC’s Morning Joe]
Mayor Rudy Giuliani: If he asked for my advice? I would have said, they elected you governor. They got an emergency. They expect you to be there. You know – you’ve got to be there if you’re a governor, a mayor or even a president, if it’s important enough.
[End of clip from MSNBC’s Morning Joe]
George Stephanopoulos: He said you shouldn’t have been in Disney World.
Governor Chris Christie: Listen, I know you’ll find it shocking that two, strong-willed Italian guys from the northeast disagree about something. I have great respect for the Mayor, we disagree on this one, but we agree on so many more issues that Mayor Giuliani and I, two former U.S. Attorneys, will disagree at times on things, this is one that we do.
George Stephanopoulos: Finally, Rush Limbaugh has something of a man-crush on you.
Governor Chris Christie:[Laughter]
George Stephanopoulos: He and many others are trying to get you into the presidential race. You’ve said time and time again you’re not running. I take you at your word. But try to encapsulate what you think the Republican Party needs? Who they need to nominate? What kind of person in 2012?
Governor Chris Christie: We need to nominate someone who the American people believe will actually walk the walk, and not just talk the talk, on reducing the size of government, and bringing our tax structure and our spending, most importantly, under control. And that person has to prove they’re willing to do the difficult things, not just talk about them. Because they’ve heard plenty of talk. Especially from our party. You know, I said this fall, when we were campaigning for republican candidates around the country. This is the Republican Party’s last chance. It’s put up or shut up time for us now that we have won the House. We better do what we said we were going to do, or we’re going to get sent to the wilderness without a compass for a long time George, and we’re going to deserve it. Because we’ve talked about it, now let’s do it.
George Stephanopoulos: Okay, Governor Christie, thanks for coming in this morning.
174,943 – Constituents responded to by the Governor’s Office of Constituent Relations
104,000 – Students trapped in chronically failing schools in New Jersey who could benefit from bold education reforms put forward by Governor Christie to
bring accountability, competition and greater choice to New Jersey public education.
28,929 – Fans on the Governor Chris Christie Fan Page
Excerpts of Christie’s prepared State of the State address:
So there can be no question…The debate in Trenton has changed.
We have turned Trenton upside down.
But now, we must take the next step.
We must make even bigger changes in the year ahead if New Jersey is to be a place where families choose to live and work, and can afford to live and work.
It is traditional in state of the state messages to provide a long list of initiatives for the year ahead.
To touch on the plan for every department of state government.
Today, I am going to break with that tradition.
I want to highlight not the small things, but the major challenges that our state has ignored for too long, and that we must confront now.
For New Jersey: It’s time to do the big things.
For this year, the biggest things fall in three categories:
·One: We must stick to the course of fiscal discipline.
·Two: We must fix our pension and health benefit systems in order to save them.
·And three: We must reform our schools to make them the best in the nation.
On these three, what is at stake is no less than the future of New Jersey.
***
First, we must continue the process of getting our fiscal house in order.
We achieved balance in fiscal year 2011, but our long-term deficit problem is far from solved.
It took years— indeed decades — to build up, so it cannot be solved in one year.
So let’s be clear.
We can’t continue to spend money we don’t have.
We can’t print money, and we can’t run deficits.
So we have to continue to make some very tough decisions about what we can afford— and what we can’t.
Next month, I will present to you my budget for fiscal year 2012.
I will guarantee you this: It will be balanced, and it will not raise taxes. …
… When I talk of controlling spending, I am doing it for a reason.
I am not proposing to cut spending just for cutting’s sake.
I am fighting this fight because we have to be truthful about what we can’t afford—whether it is health and pension benefits which are out of line with the rest of the country, or a tunnel which we can’t pay for.
I am asking for shared sacrifice so that when we leave here, New Jersey will be more fiscally sound than when we got here.
I am asking for shared sacrifice in cutting what we don’t need so that we can invest in what we absolutely do need.
***
Some people say that getting spending under control and reforming the budget is the third rail of politics.
Well, I am here to tell you that I am not afraid to touch it— because its been said, opportunity expands in proportion to one’s courage.
So I ask you to join me in cutting the popular in order to fund the necessary.
And I will go further than that.
***
So we need comprehensive tax reform — and by that I mean changes that are considered together, not in a piecemeal approach.
In my budget next month, I will propose the initial installment of such a package.
But let’s be clear: We will not put in place tax cuts that we can’t pay for.
Any economic incentive package that I will sign will be enacted in the context, and only in the context, of a balanced budget.
***
The second big issue we must tackle this year is our antiquated and unsustainable pension and benefit system. …
… I am not proposing pension and benefit reforms just to be tight-fisted.
I am proposing pension reform for the police officers who have served— and contributed— for years, but who may find nothing when they retire a decade from now.
I am proposing pension reform for the firefighters who every day put their lives in danger to serve the public— and who have the right to expect that when the time comes, the public will serve them.
I am proposing pension reform for the teachers who put in the extra hours every day to help their students.
We now must put in the extra hours to ensure the system is solvent for them. …
… So to every beneficiary of the system: I am fighting for your pension.
And to the members of the legislature, I say: Please join me in doing so.
Now as part of our negotiation on interest arbitration, the leadership of the legislature promised to take up this necessary package of pension and benefit reforms.
Now is the time for us to finish what we started last March.
We should pass this package now.
If you do, I will immediately sign it into law.
***
The third critical action item for this year— perhaps the biggest thing of all for the future of our state— is education reform.
We cannot ask children and families stuck in chronically failing public schools to wait any longer.
It is not acceptable that a child who is neglected in a New Jersey school must accept it because of their zip code. …
… Here is what we must do:
We must empower principals.
We must reform poor-performing public schools or close them.
We must cut out-of-classroom costs and focus our efforts on teachers and children.
I propose that we reward the best teachers, based on merit, at the individual teacher level.
I demand that layoffs, when they occur, be based on a merit system and not merely on seniority.
I am committed to improving the measurement and evaluation of teachers, and I have an expert task force of teachers, principals, and administrators working on that issue right now.
And perhaps the most important step in that process is to give schools more power to remove underperforming teachers.
***
Now, let’s be frank.
The issues I have highlighted today are difficult. …
… no doubt, in the months ahead, we will have to fight.
Some might even say that I have been too ready for a fight— that my approach has been too tough and too combative.
That’s for a reason.
It is because the fight is important.
It is vital.
The reality is I’ll fight when it matters.
It matters because I have seen what so many New Jersey families are dealing with each day.
For them this is not about politics— it is about their life.
I fight when the issues are big— when it matters the most.
Sometimes that means we won’t agree.
Sometimes you will oppose my proposals, and I will oppose yours.
Sometimes I will veto a bill.
But when I do so, it will because I genuinely believe it’s in the best interest of the people of New Jersey.
***
In the last year, we have begun a new movement in New Jersey.
A movement back to our roots.
Back to economic dynamism and growth.
Back to pride in our State.
We cannot say today where it will lead and all that will come of it.
But we know that the path of change is better than the path of stagnation that we were on.
I was determined when I took the oath of this office to give the people an honest assessment of our problems.
To tell them the truth, even if it was difficult and my proposed solutions were unpopular.
And to this day, I ask that I be measured by that standard—I will always do what I said I was going to do.
Governor Chris Christie’s vacation during the Blizzard of 2010 did not suppress voters’ approval of the job he is doing.
In the first independent poll since the storm, the Fairleigh Dickinson Public Mind Poll says that 53% of voters approve of Christie’s performance while 36% disapprove. FDU polled 802 registered voters by phone, land line and cell, between January 3 and January 9.
Christie’s favorable/unfavorable rating of 47%-39% is better than every elected governor’s in the last two decades.
Contrasting the FDU poll released this morning to the Quinnipiac Poll of December 21, 2010, one might conclude that the administration’s performance during the Blizzard of 2010 boosted Christie’s ratings. The December Quinnipiac poll gave Christie a 46%-44% approval rating. Quinnipiac polled 1276 voters between December 14 and 19.
Today’s poll should serve as a wake up call to much of New Jersey’s media elite who attempted to turn Christie’s family vacation during the Christmas holiday into a controversy. The controversy existed only in their minds and editorial board conference rooms. The voters and the media elites’ diminishing readership didn’t care.
In perhaps related news,Gannett announced they are laying off half of their remaining reporters at three of its Central Jersey newspapers. Maybe business would be better if the newspapers/news sites listened and reported rather than tried to advance their agenda upon a readership that views them as irrelevant.
Today is 1/11/11. Christie will delivery his first State of the State address this afternoon. New Jersey will be hit with another snow storm this afternoon.
By Art Gallagher