The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
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Trenton NJ, Senator Steven Oroho (R-24) and Senator Declan O’Scanlon (R-13) have introduced legislation to form a special legislative committee with subpoena power to investigate massive proposed premium increases for the health plans that cover state government, local government, and school employees.
Continue reading Murphy Administration Furloughs NJMVC Workers on the Day the MVC Reopens
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Trenton NJ,Senator Anthony M. Bucco raised serious concerns about Governor Phil Murphy’s plan to borrow as much as $14 billion to fund government spending.
“Given his failure to consider fiscally responsible alternatives to balance the State budget, Governor Murphy’s borrowing scheme is premature, excessive, and almost certainly unconstitutional,” said Bucco (R-25). “When the State is already drowning in debt, New Jersey taxpayers cannot afford to give the Governor the blank check he’s demanding.”
Continue reading Governor Murphy’s Ponzi Scheme Called Premature, Excessive and Unconstitutional
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Trenton NJ, Legislation authored by Senate President Steve Sweeney, Senator Declan O’Scanlon and Senator Michael Doherty allowing for the temporary reassignment of state and local employees outside of their job classifications for up to 30 days during public emergencies was approved by the Senate Budget Committee today.
Continue reading Bill Allowing Reassignment of NJ Public Workers During Crises Advances
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Ridgewood NJ, a recent article on NJ Insider attempting to quell the push to get the economy going promoting the false dichotomy that some how “Ranking Economic Benefits Over Human Life is Offensive ” . Life is a functioning economy end of story . Only someone who lives at the charity of others would not understand this.
Continue reading Its Not Economic Benefits Over Human Life ,Economic Benefits are Human Life
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Ridgewood NJ, according to analysis done by Garden State Initiative this year nearly $2.6 billion in pension payments, almost 25% of all payments, will be headed out of state, two and a half times the national rate.
GSI says ,”As of July 1, 2019, a total of 332,556 retirees were collecting pension payments from the state, with monthly payments totaling nearly $950 million, or over $11 billion annually.”
Continue reading 25% OF NJ PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PENSIONS PAID TO OUT OF STATE RESIDENTS
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MORRISTOWN NJ , Garden State Initiative (GSI) today released “The Stark Gap Between Public and Private Employee Benefits”, an analysis of the latest employee compensation data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics which illustrates some dramatic differences in compensation costs between the public and private sectors. While it’s less surprising that government costs for retirement and medical benefits far exceed the private sector, the 50% differential in cost in New Jersey versus the rest of the US is startling.
The analysis was conducted by Charles Steindel, Ph.D., a former New Jersey State Chief Economist and current resident scholar at Ramapo College. It is available for download at: https://www.gardenstateinitiative.org/updates/publicemployeebenefits
Continue reading NJ State Employee Benefits Cost 50% more then Private Sector
July 1,2018
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Trenton NJ,in a last minute deal the state government shut down has been avoided . Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi , “Update for New Jersey residents. It appears a State shutdown will be averted. On the upside you will be able to go to the beach, the racetrack or a casino, and renew your license. On the downside you will be paying even more for gas, internet purchases, hospital visits, plastic and paper bags, Airbnb, Uber and Lyft, health care, and utility bills. I keep hearing a mantra of New Jersey needs sustainable revenue. However New Jersey has significant revenue. New Jersey ranks in the top 5 highest taxed states in the country. New Jersey has among the highest pension debt. Any tax and spending increases without real reforms to our pension system is irresponsible and reckless. Good luck New Jersey residents. You voted for this”
Unfortunately the state pension fund operates like a Ponzi scheme – it requires new hire contributions to fund current liabilities. Putting new hires into 401K’s would bankrupt the funds almost immediately.
The issue requires a number of solutions
1) Stop all new public employee hires from getting a paid pension Enable a 401k retirement plan similar to what many private employees subscribe to Why should we pay for these employees for decades they aren’t working
2) significantly increase public employee health care contributions This is real requirement for any chance at resolving the costs issue
3) increase the time worked requirement to 30 years and stop the multiple public job/pension/health cycle If you retire from a public role you are not eligible for another public pension
4) reduce the union requirements for public work contracts NJ costs to build are ridiculous due to union requirements This is sole reason states such as Florida have significantly less cost to build anything Put the bids out for all laborers union or not and set a fair price
5) Absolutey need to consolidate the various towns schools, fire, police, etc There has to be a way to provide services while consolidating and cutting overhead costs How many school administrators, fire trucks, vehicles, police officers are really needed in these small villages How many police and fire personal are getting paid or on pension just in RW?
January 12,2018
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Ridgewood NJ, watch out New Jersey you could be next , for decades in California, a sacrosanct rule has governed public employees’ pensions: benefits promised can never be taken away.
But now the California Supreme Court has threaten to reverse that premise and open the door to benefit cuts for workers still on the job.
California Governor Jerry Brown said legal rulings may clear the way for making cuts to public pension benefits, which would go against long-standing assumptions and potentially provide financial relief to the state and its local governments.
ballooning expenses are an issue that Gov. Jerry Brown will face in his final year in office despite his earlier efforts to reform the state’s pension systems and pay down massive unfunded liabilities.
At issue is the “California Rule,” which dates to court rulings beginning in 1947. It says workers enter a contract with their employer on their first day of work, entitling them to retirement benefits that can never be diminished unless replaced with similar benefits.
It gives workers security that their retirement will be safe and predictable after a career in public service. But it also ties lawmakers’ hands in responding to exploding pension costs.
It’s widely accepted that retirement benefits linked to work already performed cannot be touched. But the California Rule is controversial because it prohibits even prospective changes for work the employee has not yet done.
file photo by Boyd Loving
January 5,2017
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Trenton NJ, Many firefighters, emergency medical technicians and other volunteer first responders in New Jersey are being told to leave their posts for six months.
The State of New Jersey is saying that technically these volunteers hold two positions and must terminate from both positions in order to qualify for retirement benefits, when they retire .
State law says there must be a six-month separation of service from the town retires from before he can receive any compensation from the town again or else he puts his pension in jeopardy.
State Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi (R-Westwood) said many towns rely heavily on volunteer services. Thus, she introduced a bill two years ago that would get rid of the six-month separation for firefighters.
“Went through committee unanimously; went through the entire senate unanimously,” Schepisi said.
The problem is that the bill has not been put up for a final vote in the assembly. If it is not voted on by this week, it expires.
Only Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus) can bring the bill up for a vote. Schepisi said he assured her it would move forward, but so far, it has not
Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi , “For my NJ friends please call your state assembly representatives and ask them to get Assembly Bill A-536 posted for a vote by Speaker Vincent Prieto on Monday. Our volunteer firefighters and EMS face losing their pensions if they continue to volunteer after retirement from a State, school or municipal job. My bill fixes this absurd requirement but time is running out.”
Doing something “swift and broad” will be far harder in light of the coming mass exodus of big dollar taxpayers caused by the double whammy of Herr Trump’s corporate tax hand outs (paid for by blue state property tax payers) combined with Murph’s soak-the-successful tax plan. The iceberg has been spotted, NJ is closing in on it fast and they are running out of other people’s money.
December 7,2017
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New Jersey’s benefits for state government workers are now on track to consume a quarter of the state’s annual operating budget in 2023, and “the cupboard of relatively easy reforms is now bare,” the report said.
As it was for Christie, the pension system will be one of Gov.-elect Phil Murphy’s most pressing and imposing tests.
Christie earned national acclaim for working with Democrats to revamp benefits for government workers by increasing the retirement age, freezing cost-of-living adjustments and forcing workers and state government to contribute more to the system., but the Christie’s administration didn’t live up to its own ambitious payment plan, making deep cuts to the pension contributions, and he eventually set the state on a slower, more modest ramp up to the full payment recommended by actuaries.
Governor elect Phil Murphy has said he’d like to meet or beat the Christie schedule, But according to the commission “something more is needed, and quickly,” The commission report went on “Neither the 2010-11 reforms, nor the limited initiatives taken since then, will do anything to stop benefits from consuming 26 percent of the budget five years from now.”
Erica JedynakPublished 11:28 a.m. ET Aug. 22, 2017 | Updated 1:54 p.m. ET Aug. 22, 2017
New Jersey’s pension system is failing, and it is going to take a lot of good people down with it.
That sad fact adds a touch of poignancy – along with a dash of frustration – to the latest bad news on the state’s finances. The Mercatus Center, a think tank based at George Mason University, recently rated New Jersey’s state finances as the worst in the country.
While some of the data might seem obscure to non-accountants, the problems are all too straightforward – over-promising and underfunding. Successive administrations and legislative majorities of both parties have made overgenerous commitments, then failed to fund them, leaving a tab that the state’s future taxpayers cannot possibly cover.
New Jersey’s public pension crisis is a stark case in point. With more than $235 billion in unfunded liabilities – $26,000 for every man, woman and child – the state’s retirement system is among the worst in the nation. And while you’re reading this, the problem – decades in the making – is getting worse.