On the heels of Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3) firing off letters to the U.S. Attorney and Attorney General concerning allegations of strong-arming tactics by the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean called for the immediate passage of pay-to-play legislation (S-341). Max Pizarro, PolitickerNJ Read more
A ballot question to mandate more funding for New Jersey’s troubled pension system – costing an estimated $25 billion over five years – is all but dead this year, Senate President Stephen Sweeney said Thursday. Salvador Rizzo, The Record Read more
On Wednesday, Senate President Stephen Sweeney called union threats to withhold campaign contributions unless the Senate passes pension legislation a “clear cut” case of extortion. Susan K. Livio, NJ.com Read more
When the transparency fetishist site Wikileaks released some 20,000 emails that were either hacked or leaked from the DNC on Friday July 22, most focused on identifying the source and punishing Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz for blatant favoritism of Hillary Clinton at the expense of Bernie Sanders. Ken Kurson, PolitickerNJ Read more
Angry over the uncertainty of a constitutional amendment requiring the state to contribute annually to their pensions, public workers on Monday rallied outside the Statehouse and called for Senate President Stephen Sweeney to put the measure up for a vote. Samantha Marcus, NJ.com Read more
The state Senate on Monday approved a bill allowing striking workers to collect unemployment benefits. Samantha Marcus, NJ.com Read more
A Wall Street firm says Atlantic City is likely to default Monday on a debt payment unless the state comes through with a $74 million loan it promised in May. Associated Press, Read more
Dozens of convicted criminals are collecting more than a million dollars in taxpayer-funded retirement checks, including at least one who is still behind bars, an Asbury Park Press investigation found. Andrew Ford, Asbury Park Press Read more
State public-employee pension systems across the country are facing a combined $1 trillion in debt, and many states, including New Jersey, aren’t getting much help on the investment side these days thanks to stubbornly low interest rates. Medical breakthroughs are also testing the math of pension systems as retired workers are now living much longer. John Reitmeyer, NJSpotlight Read more
Ridgewood NJ, A new study for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University ranks each US state’s financial health based on short- and long-term debt and other key fiscal obligations, such as unfunded pensions and healthcare benefits. This 2016 edition updates theversion the Mercatus Center published in 2015. Using the approach pioneered in 2015, the 2016 edition presents information from each state’s audited financial report in an easily accessible format, this time including Puerto Rico to provide a benchmark of poor fiscal performance.
Growing long-term obligations for pensions and healthcare benefits continue to strain the finances of state governments, highlighting the fact that state policymakers must be vigilant to consider both the short-term and the long-term consequences of their decisions. Understanding how each state is performing in regard to a variety of fiscal indicators can help policymakers as they consider the consequences of policy decisions.
The study also highlights some of the limits of the financial data reported by state governments. States release these data years after they are most relevant, and because the information is highly aggregated, analysts and the public have difficulty discerning the true fiscal position of any state.
The financial health of each state can be analyzed through the states’ own audited financial reports. By looking at states’ basic financial statistics on revenues, expenditures, cash, assets, liabilities, and debt, states may be ranked according to how easily they will be able to cover short-term and long-term bills, including pension obligations.
And of coarse New Jersey ranked in the bottom 5 along with Kentucky, Illinois,Massachusetts, and Connecticut ranked in the bottom five states, largely owing to the low amounts of cash they have on hand and their large debt obligations.
Each state has massive debt obligations. Each of the bottom five states exhibits serious signs of fiscal distress. Though their economies may be stronger than Puerto Rico’s, allowing them to better navigate fiscal crises, their large liabilities still raise serious concerns.
Unfunded liabilities continue to be a problem. High deficits and debt obligations in the forms of unfunded pensions and healthcare benefits continue to drive each state into fiscal peril. Each holds tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars in unfunded liabilities—constituting a significant risk to taxpayers in both the short and the long term.
The bottom five states have changed since last year. Kentucky’s position has declined, placing it in the bottom five this year. New York is no longer in the bottom five. New Jersey and Illinois improved slightly, but remain in the bottom five. Connecticut and Massachusetts also remain in the bottom five, in slightly worse positions than last year.
New Jersey vacation rentals booked through online services such as Airbnb would be subject to the same state and local occupancy taxes as hotel and motel rooms under a bill introduced in state Assembly. John C. Ensslin, The Record Read more
Senator hopes TTF debate Boosts Efforts to Tighten Business-tax Rules
As New Jersey leaders debate a gas-tax increase and tax cuts designed to offset it, a veteran Democrat wants them to take a new look at legislation that would bring new money into the budget by tightening corporate-tax regulations. While new revenue from the gas tax would be dedicated to the off-budget Transportation Trust Fund, Sen. Ray Lesniak’s proposal would fatten the general fund. John Reitmeyer, NJSpotlightRead more
Just a few miles from the Democratic National Convention, party leaders — including Senate President Stephen Sweeney and one of the campaign’s early presidential candidates — put the big New Jersey problem of public employee pensions center stage. Samantha Marcus, NJ.com Read more
The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case brought by an open-government activist who contends that the public should be allowed to view electronic data and metadata kept by local government agencies. Jan Hefler, Inquirer Read more
A nominee for the office of the commissioner of transportation cleared a Senate committee today in a unanimous vote Thursday, minutes after the news broke that his predecessor Jamie Fox would be facing bribery charges from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. JT Aregood, PolitickerNJ Read more
