JOHN REITMEYER | JULY 18, 2017
Persistent underfunding of public-employee pension system looks to have been a key factor in dismal showings in state-by-state comparisons
New Jersey’s chronic budget problems have brought on a series of credit-rating downgrades in recent years, and now the state has landed in dead last place in two recent reviews of the fiscal health of all 50 states.
The latest “Fiscal Condition” rankings released by George Mason University’s Mercatus Center just dropped New Jersey several spots to 50th, thanks in large part to both short-term and long-run solvency issues that are detailed in the university’s review.
New Jersey also came in last place in a new Pew Charitable Trusts long-term analysis of how well state revenues matched expenses between fiscal years 2002 and 2015.
In both cases, the state’s persistent underfunding of the public-employee pension system appears to have contributed significantly to the dismal showings in the state-by-state comparisons. But the reports also highlight some of New Jersey’s other longstanding budget problems, including significant debt and the lack of a substantial surplus account to hedge against revenue shortfalls.
