AP
New Jersey Supreme Court Associate Justices Lee A. Solomon, left, and Jaynee LaVecchia, right, listen as Associate Justice Anne M. Patterson asks a question during a hearing Wednesday, May 6, 2015, in Trenton
Taxpayers Face Tax Increase as N.J justices appear divided along partisan lines in pension battle
MAY 6, 2015, 12:45 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015, 11:30 PM
BY SALVADOR RIZZO
STATE HOUSE BUREAU |
THE RECORD
The state Supreme Court appeared split along ideological lines Wednesday on one of the biggest legal questions in New Jersey: Can Governor Christie ignore a pension-reform law he signed in 2011 and cut funding for the distressed retirement system?
Associate Justice Barry Albin, a veteran of the court’s liberal wing and a Democratic appointee, hammered Christie’s attorney and sounded incredulous that the Republican governor wanted to strike down a key part of his own pension overhaul. At one point, Albin suggested the courts could order a tax increase to meet pension-funding requirements.
Associate Justice Anne Patterson, a Christie appointee on the court’s conservative side, grilled the attorneys for public-worker unions suing over the funding reductions. Patterson said the courts were no place to be deciding state budget priorities and noted that Christie would have to make deep cuts to hospitals or schools in order to round up the funds missing from the pension system.
The outcome may hinge on the court’s lone independent, Associate Justice Jaynee LaVecchia. She asked tough questions of both sides and did not indicate which way she was leaning.