By Jack Ciattarelli For decades, Trenton politicians from both parties have shied away from providing real long-term solutions. We can’t afford to wait any longer. Why are pension systems for municipal and county employees, as well as the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System, all solvent? Because the employer pension contributions to these systems are funded by… Read the rest of this entry »
Senate President Steve Sweeney. file photo by Art Gallagher
TRENTON — State Senate President Stephen Sweeney said Wednesday the answer to New Jersey’s rising public employee pension debt lies in creating a trillion dollar federal loan program that will help states avoid insolvency, spare millions of government workers from economic devastation and take the pressure off state budgets. The government aid program — which Sweeney… Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: July 30th, 2015 | Author: admin | Filed under: 2017 NJ Gubernatorial Politics, New Jersey, New Jersey State Budget, News, Pensions, Stephen Sweeney | Tags: 2017 Gubernatorial race, Federal Loan Program, NJ Pension Crisis, Senate President Steve Sweeney, Steve Sweeney | 3 Comments »
Photo by Paul Scharff
Governor Chris Christie reacted to the New Jersey Supreme Court decision that he has the authority to cut pension payments from the State Budget and that the political branches of government…the Governor and Legislature…not the Court…must “deal with one another to forge a solution to the tenuous financial status of New Jersey’s pension funding in a way that comports with the strictures of our constitution,” by calling for “all interested parties” to come together and solve the New Jersey’s pension and benefit crisis “once and for all.”
“This decision is an important victory not only for our taxpayers who simply cannot afford these unsustainably high costs, but for limited, constitutional government that recognizes the proper role of the executive and legislative branches of government,” the Governor said in a statement issued by his office, “The Court’s position is clear, as is mine, it is time to move forward and work together to find a tangible, long-term solution to make our pension system and public employee health benefit costs affordable and sustainable for generations to come. In light of today’s decision, I urge all interested parties to come back to the table and partner with me to finally solve this problem once and for all.”
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth, the Assembly Republican Budget Officer, said,
Posted: June 9th, 2015 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Chris Christie, Declan O'Scanlon, New Jersey, New Jersey State Budget, NJ Senate Republicans, Pensions | Tags: Chris Christie, Declan O'Scanlon, Joe Kyrillos, NJ State Budget, NJ Supreme Court, Pension and Benefit Reform, Pension and Benefits, Senator Joe Kyrillos | 2 Comments »
Governor Chris Christie and former Governor Tom Kean Sr celebrate the first annual Livingston Day, April 11, 2013. Photo by Tim Larsen/Governor’s Office
TRENTON — Former Jersey Gov. Tom Kean had strong words of warning about Gov. Chris Christie’s recent lack of progress in solving the state’s pension crisis, but said the Republican governor shouldn’t be counted out of the 2016 race for the White House. Visiting St. Petersburg, Fla., to give the commencement address at Eckerd College on… Read the rest of this entry »
TRENTON — Republican members of the state Assembly Budget Committee on Wednesday criticized New Jersey’s largest public worker union of taking the easy road by shutting down pension talks and demanding full funding without offering any alternatives. The assemblymen, in a brief news conference following a budget hearing on Department of Education funding, leveled accusations of… Read the rest of this entry »
In New Jersey, school districts pay the salaries of their teachers, but it’s the state that picks up the costs of their retirements. Cities and towns, meanwhile, cover their employees’ salaries as well as their retirement costs. That split responsibility is at the heart of one of the core elements of the… Read the rest of this entry »
TRENTON — New Jersey lawmakers warned of potential “draconian” budget cuts to come up with $1.57 billion if the state is forced to make a full pension payment this year. A state Superior Court judge ruled today that unions are entitled to that payment as part of a 2011 pension overhaul law passed by the Democratic-led… Read the rest of this entry »
TRENTON — Some 800,000 people, working and retired, are beneficiaries of New Jersey’s pension system, a collection of funds going deeper into the red. It’s a system that Gov. Chris Christie, in his State of the State address last week, called “ an insatiable beast.” In boom years, New Jersey leaders shortchanged the pension system, and… Read the rest of this entry »
TRENTON — The New Jersey Senate today failed to override Gov. Chris Christie’s veto of a measure that would have made it harder for the state to cut pension payments at the last-minute to offset revenue shortfalls at the end of the fiscal year. The bill ( S2265) would have required the governor to make pension… Read the rest of this entry »© Copyright 2024 | MoreMonmouthMusings | All Rights Reserved