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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