Tag: pension reform

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Governor Christie comes to Parsippany for announcement on pension reform

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Governor Christie comes to Parsippany for announcement on pension reform

AUGUST 13, 2014    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2014, 12:31 AM
PARSIPPANY LIFE

On Friday, Aug. 1, Governor Chris Christie came to Parsippany to sign Executive Order 161, creating a non-partisan “New Jersey Pension and Health Benefit Study Commission” at Town Hall in Parsippany. No explanation was given for his choosing the mainly Republican-run Parsippany as the location for this event.

According to a release from Christie’s office, a panel of experts is tasked with thinking big and being bold when it comes to developing recommendations for how New Jersey can create a sustainable retirement and health benefits system. The Commission’s charge is to think long term and outside of the box when it comes combating these ever-growing entitlement costs.

The Study Commission will review:

The history of the state’s pension and health benefit systems to understand what has led to the current crisis

The soon-to-be-completed Department of the Treasury’s Division of Pensions and Benefits’ exhaustive review of potential public employee entitlement reform proposals

Reforms proposed and enacted by other states or government entities

Pension and health benefits provided in the private sector

Other factors it deems relevant to develop recommendations regarding reform that will lead to the systems being in better financial shape with less cost to the taxpayers while providing public employees and retirees with an appropriate level of benefits

The Commission will report its initial findings and recommendations to the governor within 30 days.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-state-news/nj-governor-s-office/christie-comes-to-parsippany-for-announcement-on-pension-reform-the-governor-1.1066464#sthash.UMzUhkvz.dpuf

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NJ Democrats keep fighting on civil service changes

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NJ Democrats keep fighting on civil service changes

New Jersey Democrats are seeking to invalidate new rules adopted by the Christie administration that they say threaten to upend the foundation of the state’s civil service system. (Seidman/The Philadelphia Inquirer)

https://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140612_N_J__Democrats_keep_fighting_on_civil_service_changes.html

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Readers say state worker entitlement promises have been too generous and that concessions need to be made

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Readers say state worker entitlement promises have been too generous and that concessions need to be made 

Interesting that municipalities across the country continue to file for bankruptcy protection after over-promising to their retirees. This is despite taxing our middle class to death. Middle income in the US is not keeping pace with growth in Canada, Britain and Sweden. The WHOLE story would also include admitting that entitlement promises have been too generous and that concessions need to be made to taxpayers going forward.

There have been at least 54 Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy filings just since 2006, with the largest being Detroit, followed by Stockton, San Bernardino, and Jefferson County. Central Falls, RI and Westfall, PA are some others. Harrisburg, PA filed for bankruptcy in 2011 but the judge denied their petition. NYC based hedge fund Bridgewater did a study suggesting that roughly 85% of public pensions will go bankrupt within three decades. US public pensions have $3 trillion of assets with which they are expected to make $10 trillion of retirement payments over the next 30 yrs. This implies a required annual return of roughly 9%, vs. the current 30 year US Treasury yield of 3.44%

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Readers debate State worker give backs on pensions and healthcare Readers debate State worker give backs on pensions and healthcare

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Readers debate State worker give backs on pensions and healthcare 

The pensions and benefits for the officials and employees has already been reduced by the legislature, the costs of health benifits should be curbed by the legislature as well, but for the health care providers to raise costs they should have to go before the board of public utilities regarding tax funded health care costs. Why come after the worker when the health care vendors are milti-billion dollar enterprises, I’ll tell you why, too many politicians at all level of Govt. own stock in these companies and that kind of legislation might affect the stock prices.

Hummm , well in the Private sector I used to pay over $600 per month for health insurance for a single person working in finance  and now I have a consulting contract  were as part of the deal I pay a bit over $400 per month for insurance (up over 25% since Obamacare)  So for the record how much do you really pay in??

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Christie’s Call For Pension Concessions Sets Up Budget Battle With Sweeney

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Christie’s Call For Pension Concessions Sets Up Budget Battle With Sweeney

Governor’s State of the State initiatives target a familiar foe — public employee unions

Gov. Chris Christie yesterday called for a new round of public employee pension concessions, setting the stage for a bitter budget battle with Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) over changes to their landmark pension legislation — a confrontation in which Christie holds the ultimate power.

After a brief apology for the “Bridgegate” scandal that is already the subject of five investigations, Christie used his State of the State speech to argue that “further pension changes are needed” because the annual payments required to restore the pension system to solvency prevent the state from increasing the funding for education, crime prevention, infrastructure, and other needed programs or enacting a tax cut.

“For the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget, the increase in pension and debt service costs could amount to as much as nearly $1 billion,” Christie declared. “That’s nearly $1 billion we can’t spend on education. That we can’t invest in infrastructure improvement. That we can’t use to put more cops on the street.”

“If we do not choose to reduce our soaring pension and debt-service costs, we will miss the opportunity to improve the lives of every New Jersey citizen, not just a select few,” he said, once again pitting the interests of the general public against those of public employees and their unions.

In fact, virtually every initiative in Christie’s State of the State speech targeted public employee unions, from his demand for zero payments for unused sick leave and Civil Service changes to reduce union protections in municipal consolidations to his push for extended school hours and an extended school year without any discussion of whether teachers would be paid for the additional work.

“This State of the State speech comes straight out of the Christie playbook we all know: When times are tough, he attacks public-sector workers and their unions,” Milly Silva, the executive vice president of Service Employees International Union Local 1199 who ran against Christie’s ticket as the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in November, said last night. “This is going to set up a major battle with the Legislature.” (Magyar/NJSpotlight)

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/14/01/15/christie-s-call-for-pension-concessions-sets-up-budget-battle-with-sweeney/