Christie and Sweeney find common starting point on public employee pension reform

By Max Pizarro | January 25th, 2010 - 6:24pm
| More

With the news coming out of the Democratic caucus today that Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford) wants to revisit reforms proposed by the 2006 bipartisan special session to overhaul the current public employee pension and benefits system, Gov. Chris Christie quickly issued a release praising Sweeney. 

“Senate President Sweeney is sending a clear signal that results matter and that bipartisan action is critical to reforming a broken pension and benefits system," the governor said. "I applaud the Senate leadership’s decision to complete the sweeping overhaul of the public employee pension and benefits system that was first proposed over three years ago. The only way to ease New Jersey’s fiscal pain and close our budget gap is by working together to fundamentally change the way government operates and today’s move is a very positive first step.”

 

According to the Senate Majority Office, the bipartisan, bicameral committee four years ago made 41 specific recommendations to ensure the  pension and benefits system's long-term viability for career state employees. The legislature enacted 15 recommendations, while other reforms were achieved through collective bargaining.

"The Senate must be prepared to tackle the unfinished business of the joint session,” said Sweeney. “Three years after the special session ended, applying its bipartisan recommendations is more important than ever.”

Sweeney and leadership want to examine rolling-back a "9% increase legislatively enacted in 2001 that resulted in a significant increase in the pension fund’s unfunded liability, increasing the number of 'high salary' years used to calculate pension benefits from the average of three years to the average of at least five years, requiring all part-time employees to enroll into a defined contribution plan instead of the pension system and allowing all current non-vested public employees to opt into a defined contribution retirement plan."

Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Lawrenceville), whose legislative district includes Trenton and environs populated by a large number of public sector employees, said, "I don't have any problem with providing people options. We have to secure our pension funds. But I'm looking to protect the pension fund for everybody, so that no one group will suffer more than another. Everybody realizes sacrifices need to be made. But they must be shared sacrifices not bourne primarly by the middle class and low income workers."

Tags:

If Sweeney wants to reform

Submitted by tj on January 26, 2010 - 5:31pm.

If Sweeney wants to reform the pension system, why doesn't he start with himself. He is double dipping. He should only take one pension!

Sweeney's alleged double dipping

Submitted by jerseymedic on January 29, 2010 - 12:40pm.

TJ is most likely incorrect in saying that Stephen Sweeney is "double dipping". As Gloucester County Freeholder and Senate President, he is probably a member of the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS). Pension rules state you can only collect a single pension from any one system. So, in both of his jobs, he is contributing to one pension, not two.

Having 401k plans gives us

Submitted by crissy_B on February 18, 2010 - 12:46am.

Having 401k plans gives us whole lot benefits
to be secured financially. A lot of people don't know much about investing for retirement, and the standard retirement savings/investment plan is the ubiquitous 401(k) plan. Part of a 401(k) plan is that withholdings are before taxes, whereas a Roth IRA is post-taxes, but the hitch is that that withdrawals are subject to taxes, whereas withdrawals from a Roth are not. (Some people are better off in a Roth IRA than other IRA plans.) Pension plans are increasingly rare, so investment in a 401(k) or other IRA is best done sooner rather than later, as one does not want to need payday loans in their golden years. There are also maximum contributions, and other things to consider as well.

MBT

Submitted by weiwei88088 on April 5, 2010 - 11:13pm.

MBT MBT
MBT Shoes MBT Shoes
MBT sale MBT sale
MBT UK MBT UK
MBT Fitness Shoes MBT Fitness Shoes
MBT Lami shoes MBT Lami shoes
MBT M.Walk shoes MBT M.Walk shoes
MBT Sport Shoes MBT Sport Shoes
GHD GHD
GHD Straighteners GHD Straighteners
GHD Hair Straighteners GHD Hair Straighteners
GHD IV Styler GHD IV Styler
GHD UK GHD UK
Ghd Hair Ghd Hair
Chi Flat Iron Chi Flat Iron
Chi Hair Chi Hair
Ceramic Chi Flat Iron Ceramic Chi Flat Iron
Chi Flat Irons Chi Flat Irons
Chi Hair iron Chi Hair iron
Ghd Iron Ghd Iron
Ghd Flat Iron Ghd Flat Iron
GHD IV MK4 Gold GHD IV MK4 Gold
ugg boots ugg boots
ugg australia ugg australia
hollister uk hollister uk
tiffany wedding rings tiffany wedding rings
iphone on sale iphone on sale

ugg boots womens

Submitted by weiwei88088 on April 6, 2010 - 1:26am.

ugg boots womens ugg boots womens
womens uggs womens uggs
womens ugg boots womens ugg boots
bailey button ugg boots bailey button ugg boots
classic tall ugg boots classic tall ugg boots
classic short ugg boots classic short ugg boots
classic cardy ugg boots classic cardy ugg boots
classic mini ugg boots classic mini ugg boots
metallic ugg boots metallic ugg boots
nightfall ugg boots nightfall ugg boots
sundance ii ugg boots sundance ii ugg boots
ultra tall ugg boots ultra tall ugg boots
ultra short ugg boots ultra short ugg boots
ugg boots ugg boots
uggs uggs
ugg australia ugg australia
ugg sale ugg sale
ugg boots sale ugg boots sale
cheap ugg boots cheap ugg boots
winter boots winter boots
discount ugg boots discount ugg boots
cheap uggs cheap uggs
uggs on sale uggs on sale
australia ugg boots australia ugg boots
ugg boots 2010 ugg boots 2010
GHD GHD
MBT MBT
Gucci Gucci
Abercrombie UK Abercrombie UK
urban jean style urban jean style

Wake-Up Call

Morning News Digest: July 30, 2010

Follow PolitickerNJ updates on Twitter and on Facebook Task force begins look at prosecutors A task force examining an Essex-backed bill usurping county crime prosecution duties and throwing them to the state kicked off their study today. Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, a Democrat whose longtime friendship...

The Back Room

Trenton makes the world takes

Check out the familiar face gracing the cover of the most recent copy of The National Review.

Read More >

Get in my belly!

Hope Diamond remains free

You think?

Seattle Skidoo

Read More >>

Op-Ed

Starting the Dialogue of Shared Services in Passaic County

Sharing services between local communities is an obvious and pragmatic approach to stabilizing our taxes and maintaining a high level of municipal services our residents have come to expect.  As a result of decreasing tax revenues, a new... Read More >

Women's Health Care: A Critical, Bipartisan Priority

Merchantville Residents Take Control of Their Own Future

Read More >>

Contributors

Patrick
Murray
State Pension Reality Check - Numbers matter.  Poll results, budget deficits, health statistics.  Attach a number to any issue and it becomes reality.  But sometimes a reality... more »
Michael
W. Kempner
The Americans with Disabilities Act at 20 -- Our country is observing a significant milestone this week – one that has literally transformed the lives of millions of Americans... more »
Steve
Adubato, Jr.
It’s easy to criticize a bold and decisive plan to change the status quo, even when the status quo isn’t getting the job done.  But, the alternative—staying the course—is... more »
Alan
Steinberg
David Twersky, Rest in Peace, My Dear Friend   Today on the Jewish calendar is Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the month of Av on which we Jews fast... more »
Richard
J. LaRossa
How many times can a Tea Partier take a  bus to DC without getting frustrated to the point of throwing in the... more »
Dr.
Joseph R. Marbach
Governor Christie’s proposal to submit a constitutional amendment to cap property taxes at 2.5 percent to the voters is a classic example of “doing the wrong thing for the... more »
Joey
Novick
 7.2.10----Now you may have thought that the only people from Their Side who say wacky things are Sarah Palin and Glen Beck, But nooooo. Here are others---What Their Side... more »
Jeff
Michaels
The enactment of the State’s annual budget this week was the end product of a remarkable and historic mastery of state policy, politics, and the legislative process by Governor... more »
Murray
Sabrin
The New Jersey state budget is in perpetual crisis.  Every year the governor and the legislature engage in the June 30th soap opera:  Will a budget be... more »
Chris
Christie
Members of the Legislature and fellow citizens and taxpayers: Earlier this week, I signed into law the budget for Fiscal Year 2011.  I thank you for your cooperation and... more »
Robert
Torricelli
There are more opinions in New Jersey than proposals for dealing with our soaring property taxes. People will differ on the proper formula for state ... more »
Kim
Guadagno
New Jersey businesses – both large and small – are facing daunting obstacles during the current economic climate that has slowed down, and in many cases stopped... more »

Resources

Visit the PolitickerNJ.com/resources page for links to the best collection of information on New Jersey state government.

 

  • Polls
  • The best blogs
  • Columnists
  • State election results
  • Assembly election results
  • Local party websites
  • And more.

PolitickerNJ.com/resources