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Re: Judge overturns Chris Christie pension cut

By: killthecat in FFFT3 | Recommend this post (0)
Tue, 24 Feb 15 9:33 PM | 48 view(s)
Boardmark this board | Food For Further Thought 3 		Msg. 09472 of 65535
(This msg. is a reply to 09469 by clo)
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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will propose a new round of major pension and health benefit cuts for public employees as he delivers his budget address Tuesday, a day after a judge ordered his administration to restore $1.57 billion in delayed payments to the state's pension system.

Christie will dedicate his annual budget address to outlining the danger of the state's spiraling pension and benefits costs and propose a series of changes based on a long-delayed study commission's findings.

The speech will come less than 24 hours after Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson ruled in favor of public workers who sued Christie for slashing pension contributions he had agreed to as part of a 2011 deal struck with the Democrat-controlled Legislature. The deal increased public workers' contributions and raised retirement ages in exchange for the state paying more into the funds.

The administration is appealing the ruling and does not appear to be taking it into consideration as Christie prepares for his address.

Christie is expected to propose a $1.3 billion payment into the pension system in fiscal year 2016 — a number his office is touting as the largest in history but which still doesn't come close to the $2.25 billion that the earlier deal called for this year. Christie had been on board with the higher figure before cutting it back amid a surprise state revenue shortfall. The full payment for fiscal 2016 under the old agreement would have been around $3 billion.

Christie has said that delaying payments last year and this year was the only reasonable way for the state to balance its budgets after tax revenue fell short of expectations. According to his office, New Jersey is on track to have to pay out more than $4 billion in annual pension payments by 2016, in addition to nearly as much in health care costs, crowding out other spending.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/02/24/us/ap-us-christie-budget-address.html?ref=aponline


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The above is a reply to the following message:
Judge overturns Chris Christie pension cut
By: clo in FFFT3
Tue, 24 Feb 15 3:47 PM 		Msg. 09469 of 65535

Christie is a scumbag!

Judge overturns Chris Christie pension cut
The ruling is a big blow at the governor’s efforts to slice spending.

By BRIAN MAHONEY 2/23/15 6:58 PM EST

A New Jersey judge ordered Gov. Chris Christie to reverse a $1.57 billion cut he made to New Jersey’s public pension system, sending the presidential contender scrambling to find new sources of revenue.

The Monday afternoon ruling from Mercer County Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson comes one day before Christie is set to unveil the state’s 2016 budget. It’s a stunning rebuke to the governor’s fiscal agenda, which for years has relied primarily on spending cuts rather than tax increases to shore up the state’s bleak finances. 

It’s also a victory for the labor unions who sued the administration to halt the cuts.

“The court cannot allow the state to simply turn its back on its obligations to New Jersey’s public employees,” Jacobson’s opinion said, “especially in light of the fact that the state’s failure to make its full payment constitutes a substantial blow to the solvency of the pension funds in violation of plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.”

Christie approved the pension cuts last year to compensate for unexpectedly low tax revenues. A group of state and national unions, including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Communications Workers of America, promptly sued, saying Christie was in violation of a 2011 law that funded New Jersey’s pensions fully as part of a bipartisan overhaul of the state pension system.

The court agreed and ruled that Christie must find some way to cover $1.57 billion in pension obligations before the current fiscal year ends June 30.

“The practical reality of the situation is that time is of the essence for the legislative and executive branches to work together to come up with a solution to the pension crisis, especially given the fact that the record is devoid of any serious efforts to find a solution since the revenue shortfall accrued,” Judge Jacobson said.
The Christie administration will likely appeal the decision.

“Once again liberal judicial activism rears its head with the court trying to replace its own judgment for the judgment of the people who were elected to make these decisions,” Christie spokesperson Michael Drewniak said in a statement, according to the Newark Star-Ledger.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/judge-overturns-nj-gov-christie-pension-cut-115435.html#ixzz3Sej08mIl

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