New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog : New Jersey Public Safety Employee Lawyer & Attorney : Pellettieri, Rabstein & Altman Law Firm : Workers Compensation, Discipline Representation for Police & Firefighters : New Jersey

As reported by nj.com, public pension funds may have gotten a much-needed boost from Governor Chris Christie’s landmark overhaul last year, but reports released show the funds continue to be hampered by the State’s failure to make full payments into the plans. 

Christie and Democratic leaders joined together last year and shifted a greater share of the pension costs on to public workers and cut out cost-of-living increases for future and current retirees. The move helped drive the State’s nagging unfunded pension liability from $53.9 billion to $36.3 billion when they revised 2010 figures, the report shows. 

But the State’s pension hole grew by $5.5 billion by the end of the 2011 budget year, largely because Christie followed in the tradition of his predecessors and failed to make a pension payment, an annual actuarial report on the pension funds shows. Overall, the State has only 67 percent of the money it needs to meet its future pension obligation, and that figure is expected to worsen as the State phases in its full pension payment over the next seven years.

The State was supposed to pay about $3 billion into the pension fund this year, but will only be paying about $480 million. Next year, the State will only pay about $900 million of its $3 billion bill, records show.

By 2018, State taxpayers will begin paying more than $5 billion a year for pensions, roughly ten times higher than the partial payment being made in this year’s budget, according to administration estimates. The tab for local taxpayers will rise by about $600 million by 2020, estimates show.

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As reported by nj.com, in what some advocates of open government call an unprecedented overreach, Attorney General Paula Dow has blocked the public from knowing how much overtime State Police troopers and other state law enforcement officials earn. Dow’s rule, which took effect this month, is part of a larger effort by the Attorney General to make confidential any records that “may reveal or lead to information that may reveal” an officer’s assignment.

The measure applies to the State Police and any other law enforcement officers that work under the Department of Law and Public Safety, but not local police departments, said Leland Moore, a spokesman for Dow. But open government advocates said the move by Dow restricts basic financial information, and that the taxpayers of New Jersey have a right to track public spending, including overtime. “Public employees, including law enforcement, have never liked the public knowing how much they make,” said Ron Miskoff of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government. “But the public is paying the freight and I don’t see how knowing someone’s overtime is going to put anyone in danger.”

State records show that troopers earned $25.5 million in overtime last year, and as of September they made $15.7 million. Topping the list was Sergeant Robert Galik, assigned to Turnpike duty, who earned $63,221 in overtime last year. He had made $50,685 through the first nine months of this year, the second highest amount among troopers.

The State Treasury currently makes payroll information available for all state employees, including police, through a website created under Governor Chris Christie’s open government initiative. The website, yourmoney.nj.gov, billed as Christie’s “Transparency Center,” is updated every three months and is intended to help “taxpayers better understand public finances” and to “make government more accountable.” Moore said the Trasury will comply with Dow’s new rule and no longer post overtime information for police under the Department of Law and Public Safety.

Under the rules, total overtime figures for the department and its divisions will still be available. Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for Dow, said the rule reflected the long-standing position of the Attorney General’s Office. The Department of Corrections said there is no rule like the one imposed by the Attorney General to block overtime data for correctional officers.

Dow’s rule regarding overtime was enacted as part of several measures to make more records confidential, including those that detail background investigations or evaluations for job applicants and those concerning employee discipline, discharges or promotions. Many of the rules, other than the overtime provision, are similar to restrictions on public records under the state open records act. But Miskoff said they went too far in curtailing public access.

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As reported by nj.com, the sponsor of a bill to end five and six figure sick-leave payouts for retiring public employees in New Jersey is calling on Governor Chris Christie to sign compromise legislation.

Senator Paul Sarlo of Bergen County told The Associated Press the Governor is holding up the bill over a relatively small difference that would end unlimited payouts for all future employees. On Monday, Christie said he is unlikely to compromise.

The sticking point is over whether to eliminate the sick time’s cash value, as Christie wants. Sarlo wants retiring employees to cash out a nominal amount to discourage employees from using up their sick-leave every year. Christie vetoed legislation a year ago that would have capped the payouts at $15,000. Democrats then offered to reduce the cap to $7,500.

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As reported by nj.com, the state wants to keep taking increasing pension and health benefits contributions from Superior Court judges and Supreme Court justices while it appeals a judge’s ruling that the hikes are unconstitutional. 

The state Attorney General’s Office filed a motion to postpone implementation of Superior Court Assignment Judge Linda Feinberg’s ruling blocking the higher pension and health benefit payments for the judges and justices, spokesman Paul Loriquet said.

The first increased contributions under Governor Chris Christie’s new plan were taken from the judges’ October 14 paychecks. Feinberg’s ruling would have stopped those hikes from being deducted from their future bi-weekly checks, but the state wants to continue with those higher collections during the appeals process.

Feinberg rules judges and justices are exempt from paying more because a provision in the state Constitution prohibits their salaries from being “diminished” during their terms. Feinberg did not agree with the state’s contention that increasing pension and health benefits contributions does not constitute a reduction in their pay, infuriating Christie, who denounced the ruling as “self-interested and outrageous.”

Christie called for a constitutional amendment to allow for a reduction of judges’ salaries, but Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver sad they don’t support calling for a vote on it, preferring to see how it is handled in the courts.

Feinberg has been criticized for ruling on a case that affects her, but case law allows judges to hear cases that directly affect them when there is no other appropriate court to address the matter. She has not set a date yet to hear the motion.

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As reported by nj.com, Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver have no plans to post a constitutional amendment ensuring judges are subject to increases in pension and benefit payments proposed by Governor Chris Christie. “I am not inclined to support pursuing a constitutional amendment,” Oliver said. “It sets a very unhealthy precedent.”

Christie’s call for an amendment to the state Constitution stems from a decision issued by Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg, who wrote requiring judges to pay more for pension and benefits is an indirect reduction in salary. The state Constitution prohibits pay cuts for judges and justices. The amendment would define justices and judges’ salary as exclusively salary, not encompassing pension and benefit payments.

Without support from Sweeney and Oliver, both of whom spearheaded the changes for public workers in June, Christie’s proposal is dead in the water. While Oliver said she is not inclined to post the amendment under any circumstances, Sweeney said he will re-evaluate based on the decisions of the higher courts. “Changing the Constitution based on one decision may not be warranted,” Sweeney said in a statement. “After the appeals process has been completed, the legislature will then determine the appropriate reaction, if any.”

In a press conference, Christie personally attacked Feinberg and called the decision “self-interested,” “outrageous” and “extraordinary hubris.” “Judge Feinberg’s decision yesterday, in addition to being legally indefensible, is morally indefensible,” Christie said. “If the courts will not fix this problem, then the Legislature has to give the people the opportunity to fix this problem.”

Christie said he will send language for a constitutional amendment to legislative leaders by the end of this week. He wants the Legislature to act in the lame-duck session after the November election, so the measure appears on the November 2012 ballot when voter turnout is highest.

To be on the ballot, a constitutional amendment must be approved by three-fifths of each house in the Legislature, 24 senators, and 48 assemblymen. Or, it can be approved by a majority of legislators in two consecutive legislative years. Once on the ballot, a simple majority of voters must approve the amendment.

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As reported by nj.com, Superior Court judges and Supreme Court justices, protected by the state Constitution from salary reductions while in office, are exempt from Governor Chris Christie’s new pension and health benefits plan requiring them to contribute a larger share of their salary, a judge ruled yesterday. 

Christie immediately lashed out at the ruling handed down by Superior Court Assignment Judge Linda Feinberg and indicated the state would appeal. “This outrageous, self-serving decision, where a judge is protecting her own pocketbook and those of her colleagues, is why the public has grown to have such little faith in the objectivity of the judiciary,” the governor said in statement issued by his office.

In reaching her decision, Feinberg concluded that the increased contributions Christie is requiring of judges and almost 700,000 current and retired state employees is an indirect reduction in pay that the Constitution specifically forbids for judges and justices. Feinberg also rejected the State’s contention that the increase is similar to a tax and is not discriminatory because it applies to all state employees.”

Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale of Hudson County filed the lawsuit challenging the measure in July after Christie signed legislation on June 28 increasing judges’ pension contributions from 3 percent to 12 percent of their annual salaries and requiring them to pay 35 percent of their health care premiums.

State law allows judges to hear cases that directly affect them when there is no other appropriate court to address the matter. The case did not go to U.S. District Court because it does not involve any federal allegations.

It is not the first time Christie has tangled with the courts, though this time he is seeking redress from the very body he has had sharp words for. He has repeatedly said the state Supreme Court justices have overstepped their bounds by influencing policy and budget decisions best left to the governor and the Legislature.

In making her ruling, Feinberg said the salaries cannot be touched, even in difficult economic times, and noted the provision is in the Constitution to protect judges from potentially vindictive acts of the executive and legislative branches of government.

Two weeks ago a group of state employees tried to tie their own legal challenge to the changes in pensions and benefits to DePascale’s case, but Feinberg ruled the two were not closely enough related to consolidate them.

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As reported by nj.com, two state panels approved higher rates for health insurance plans today, raising premium rates for coverage of all state employees, municipal workers, and public school teachers and staff. These new, higher rates for health insurance plans, mean the state will pay more for benefits and so will approximately 850,000 workers who are being asked to pay an increased cost of those benefits.

Today’s votes mark the next step in a statewide shift to make public employees pay a larger share of their healthcare. Rates for 2012 health insurance plans will rise by an average of 9 percent for active state employees, and by 3 percent for retirees, witnesses told the state health benefits commission today. For Medicare-eligible retirees, rates will be frozen at this year’s rate. Health plan rates for municipal employees grow an average of 10.3 percent. Early retirees increase 10.5 percent and Medicare-eligible retirees see a 2 percent change. 

The state commission in charge of reviewing health plan rates for school board employees have approved the following rate raises: for current teachers and all school administrative staff, plan rates rise by 10.1 percent in 2012. Rates for early retirees, who retire before the age of 65, rise by 6.5 percent. Medicare-eligible retirees see their rates freeze at 2011 levels.

The state hopes to offer 15 health plans in 2012, compared with three choices for state and local employees last year. Governor Chris Christie ordered that expansion as part of his successful change to public pension and benefits laws. Officials anticipate saving $10 million this year, a savings which they said Tuesday reflected “limited” enrollment in the new, cheaper plans by public employees.

Treasury officials announced last week that the state would also take up $90 million in federal dollars to pay towards retiree prescription costs, available as a result of federal healthcare reform proposed by President Obama and passed by Congress. The timing of that program’s availability this year is coincidental, and unrelated to Christie’s reforms.

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As reported by nj.com, public employees, from state workers to local school teachers, may now choose from a wider range of health plans that include low-cost options and some with narrower coverage as they start paying more for their benefits. The signature benefit reform enacted by Governor Chris Christie calls for cheaper plans while demanding higher contributions from workers. 

The state hopes to save $10 million this year through those changes alone. The future savings will grow because as workers pay a greater share of their health plan costs they may select cheaper options, lowering the expense to the state, officials said. But New Jersey is also asking for help from the federal government. The state applied for a $90 million federal program, which will cover part of the state’s bill for retiree prescription plans.

Two state panels created to review health benefits voted this week to approve a raft of new health plans, amounting to 15 choices for public employees. The rates are not fixed until they get approved by a permanent state commission, which is scheduled to act next week.

In building the health insurance plans, Treasury officials anticipate using a new federal Employee Group Waiver plan to save around $90 million in the state’s obligation for retiree prescriptions. The waiver plan is available through President Obama’s health care reform, which allows employers and states to benefit from changes to Medicare. State Treasury officials confirmed the state would file an application to the federal government, through insurance provider Medco. Part of that savings, $20 million, will be used this year to offset rises in health care costs for retired workers. The amount ensures a cap on certain co-pays for retirees in plans at 2011 levels.

The new health plans are part of a shift away from what Christie has called “Cadillac” health care coverage offered to state workers and largely paid for by the state. State employers and local governments could pay $2,000 more for an employee’s family coverage annually than current plans, according to summaries provided by state officials. But at the lower end of the scale, the cheapest plans would be an estimated $7,000 lower than the current affordable options. Workers will pay a fraction of that total premium, but that fraction will increase in July over the next three years.

In late June, Christie ordered a 12-member panel to devise the new plans as part of a controversial law to make public workers contribute more for their health care. The panel missed an August deadline, raising questions over whether Christie’s signature policy would be implemented smoothly.

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As reported by nj.com, the Christie administration touted big savings for local governments because of pension reforms as state employees and a judge tussled over lawsuits challenging new requirements for them to pay more their benefits.

The controversial public benefits overhaul, signed by Governor Chris Christie in June, shifts a greater share of the costs onto public workers. Yesterday, the Governor’s office said local governments across New Jersey will save $267 million in pension costs, according to figures provided by the state’s Treasury Department. Supporters said the move was necessary to help save the cash-strapped pension system for future retirees and to help ease the burden on local governments. The calculation takes into account the amount local public employees pay into the fund, but does not include judges’ pensions. The largest savings, about $220 million, comes from increased contributions to the police and firefighters’ pension fund.

The benefits reforms are being challenged in court. Yesterday, a state Superior Court judge ruled a group of state employees cannot have their suit considered jointly with a judge who claims the additional contributions are unconstitutional. Assignment Judge Linda Feinberg in Trenton said the cases, one brought by Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale and another filed by seven state workers, are not similar enough to combine into one legal challenge.

After deciding against consolidating the cases, Feinberg heard arguments on whether she should block the implementation of the contribution increases for judges and justices. The new law was enacted June 28 but the pay deductions take effect October 14.

In adopting the new law, the state Legislature did not change the statute that sets judges’ salaries, Assistant Attorney General Robert Loughy said. Their salaries remain intact, but their salary deductions to pay for the benefits are increasing, he said. “If you have a mandatory pension program and that’s coming out of your salary, it’s a diminution of salary,” Feinberg challenged Loughy. “It’s a deduction from salary,” he countered.

Until now, any increases to health benefits or pension contributions for judges have been accompanied by pay increases, argued DePascale’s attorney. Judges contribute 1.5 percent of their salaries toward their health care benefits. The new law requires them to pay 35 percent of the premium cost. DePascale, who earns $165,000, has said that would more than double his contribution to $5,230.86. He also said added pension contributions would, after a phase in, increase his biweekly deductions from $126.44 to $687.59.

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As reported by nj.com, the state’s highest ranking government officials will not be getting a raise any time soon. Republican legislative leaders and Governor Chris Christie’s office announced they would withhold appointments to a seven-member commission that meets every four years to set salaries for a broad range of officials from the governor on down. The move by the governor, Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr., and Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce deprives the panel, known as the Public Officers Salary Review Commission, of the quorum it needs to function.

A spokesman for the governor, Michael Drewniak, said the officials, including the governor, lawmakers, cabinet officials, state Superior Court judges, state Supreme Court justices, and several other positions, will have to wait at least four more years for a raise. Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver withdrew their appointments to the panel as well. Winnie Comfort, a spokeswoman for the state judiciary, said Chief Justice Stuart Rabner made an appointment to the panel, but there was no need to withdraw it.

New Jersey lawmakers earn $49,000 a year with the exception of the Senate President and Assembly Speaker who make $65,333. Lawmakers last received a raise in 2002, when their salaries rose from $35,000 to $49,000, according to the librarian of the Office of Legislative Services, Peter Mazzei. Cabinet officials, who earn $141,000, also got their last raise in 2002. Judicial salaries, which range from $165,000 for Superior Court trial judges to $192,795 for the Supreme Court Chief Justice, last went up in 2009.  

The lack of a salary increase means high-level state employees will not be able to offset an increase in the cost of benefits, which takes effect October 14. The increase, recently approved by the Legislature and signed into law by Christie, has the highest-paid workers contributing as much as 30 percent of their health benefit premiums.

In July, state Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale filed a lawsuit against the controversial overhaul of pension and health benefits, contending it unconstitutionally “diminishes” judges’ salaries. A group of state employees who filed a separate lawsuit against the new law hopes to combine the two legal actions.

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As reported by nj.com, leaked audio from Governor Chris Christie’s closed-door speech to conservative donors in Colorado gives new details on the heated final days in the battle to cut public employee benefits. In particular, Christie said Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver personally asked him for Republican support to stay in power if dissident Democrats tried to oust her to stop the cuts. The Christie delivered, asking surprised members of his own party to cross the aisle and back Oliver if there was a coup attempt.

A coup never materialized, and public employee benefits were cut in June, one of the signature accomplishments of Christie’s administration so far. But, the episode raised questions about whether Oliver will have enough support to stay on as speaker after two-year term ends in January.

A transcript of the audio was posted online by a reporter from the magazine Mother Jones. The recording was made during an event hosted by the Koch brothers, two wealthy conservatives, on June 26, three days after the Assembly approved benefit cuts and two days before Christie signed the bill. The governor did not disclose that he left the state to attend the event.

Christie confirmed the account during an unrelated press conference in Atlantic City yesterday. Oliver, however, said in no uncertain terms that the conversation with Christie never happened. “Governor Christie is making an assertion that I called him and asked him for his help in retaining my speakership? Governor Christie is more mentally deranged than some of us though. Never happened,” she said.

Christie said Oliver told him: “I want to post the bill but I think when I go on the floor, my own party’s going to take a run at me to remove me as speaker. So I can’t post the bill.” Then she added, according to Christie: “I think the only way I survive is if the 33 Republicans in the chamber will agree to vote for me for speaker. Can you work it out?”

The governor then went to talk to Republican Assembly members, who were in a closed-door caucus meeting. Christie said he told them: “Probably for the only time in my governorship I’m going to actually ask you to vote for a Democrat…So if they take a run at her on the floor, I need all of you to vote for her for speaker.”

Christie said Republicans were surprised, but the governor insisted keeping Oliver in power was necessary to get the bill passed. “Are you with me or aren’t you?” Christie recalled asking. “All 33 of them raised their hands and said they were with me.”

Christie said he went back to his office and called Oliver. “You just got 33 new votes,” he said he told her. Oliver responded, “Well, you just got yourself a bill.” The bill passed the Assembly on June 23.

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As reported by nj.com, dozens of unions and public workers filed suit against the newly enacted pension and health benefit overhaul in federal court yesterday. The 58-page, 17-count suit charges the state violated the state and federal constitutions by suspending cost of living adjustments for at least 30 years, failing to make full payments into the pension system for the last decade, and handing administration of the systems to committees. The suit, whose plaintiffs include the NJEA, the CWA, and all the major public safety unions, charges that the law is a “violation of substantive and procedural due process rights.”  

“This lawsuit is about basic fairness and justice. Governor Christie and the Legislature passed a law which illegally takes away benefits that school employees and other have already earned through their service to the people of New Jersey,” said NJEA President Barbara Keshishian. “Perhaps most troubling is that this legislation amounts to a classic ‘bait and switch’ for current retirees. These are people who worked their entire careers believing in the promise that their pension benefits would be honored. They’ve already retired, and are living on a fixed income. Now they’re being told that the state is reneging on its promise.”

The law, pushed through the Legislature with the help of Democratic legislative leaders and signed by Governor Chris Christie on June 28, seeks to cut costs because the pension and health benefit systems are underfunded by a combined $120 billion. Unions fiercely protested against the bill, saying it prevented them from collectively bargaining their medical benefits, which will be set by a panel of union members and state managers.

All public workers-including police officers, firefighters, and teachers-will pay more for their pensions and health benefits. It would suspend cost-of-living increases to pensions for retirees and raise the retirement age for new workers.

Employees have “non-forfeitable rights” to cost-of-living adjustments, says the suit, which includes eight retirees as plaintiffs. “While employed and when they retired, these Class Plaintiffs fully expected and relied upon the promise that they would receive the promised required COLAs every year,” it reads.

It also says the state’s underfunding of the pension system violates workers’ contractual rights, and that forcing workers with fewer than 20 years of service to pay more for health benefits “violates the promises made to, and the contractual property rights of, active public employees with less than 20 years of credited service.”

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As reported by nj.com, with a flood of retirements, the sluggish economy, and a governor intent on shrinking the size of government, the number of public workers in New Jersey has dropped to its lowest level in eight years, a Star-Ledger analysis shows. New Jersey shed about 29,100 state and local government jobs during Governor Chris Christie’s first 19 months in office, trailing only New York and California in the total number of public sector jobs lost, according to federal labor statistics.

The latest figures, released earlier this month, show the state has fewer public employees-from police and teachers to college administrators and state workers-on the payrolls than at any other point since September 2003. In fact, New Jersey’s sizable decline accounts for more than 8 percent of the 357,100 public sector jobs lost in states across the country since January 2010, the month Christie took office.

The loss of public sector jobs comes as New Jersey’s post-recession economy continues to struggle, translating into a 9.5 percent unemployment rate that is 13^th highest in the nation. In recent months, Christie has recast the unemployment rate-a critical yardstick for governors-saying it’s more a measure of his success than his failures. He said the stubbornly high jobless figure is an unavoidable consequence of his mission to shrink the size of government in New Jersey.

But economists and critics argue that Christie’s outlook ignorers how the loss of so many jobs, regardless of their origin, threatens the state’s broader economy. In January 2010, there were 590,200 employees on public payrolls in New Jersey. But that has dropped by more than 5 percent, the fifth highest percentage decline in the nation. In the same time period, the total number of jobs in New Jersey-accounting for gains in the private sector and losses in public jobs-rose by 20,300. That ranks New Jersey behind 38 other states in percentage of job growth. Christie’s critics say he may have been successful at shrinking government, but he has failed to expand the economy and provide new employment opportunities.

“In previous times, the decline in public sector jobs hit administration, but these last two years we are seeing a dramatic dip in police, fire, and EMS employees because the state aid was cut,” said William Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities. Police and firefighters across the state have reacted with anger, framing the issue as a matter of public safety. “Our members are being asked to do their job without the manpower necessary to get things done. And at any given time, we can go to work and not come home,” said Dominick Marino, president of the International Association of Firefighters of New Jersey.

The city of Trenton is preparing to layoff 108 officers, which union officials there say would put staffing at 1930s levels.

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As reported by nj.com, the credit rating agency Fitch has lowered New Jersey’s general bonds, citing unfunded pension and employee benefit liabilities. The agency wrote that making an increased pension payment, which Governor Chris Christie has said he will do, will “conflict with other long term challenges, such as property tax relief, school funding, and infrastructure needs.”

“The state’s budget remains structurally imbalanced inclusive of unfunded pension contributions,” the agency said in the downgrade announcement. “Reserve balances are expected to remain narrow, offering limited flexibility to absorb unforeseen needs.” Fitch dropped the state’s rating from “AA” to “AA-.”

Christie said last week Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff and Chief of Staff Richard Bagger had traveled to New York to meet with some of the credit rating agencies and try to persuade them to increase the state’s rating in the wake of passage of pension and health benefit overhauls. “It was received very well by the agencies,” Christie said.

When the state’s rating was downgraded in February by Standard & Poor, Christie blamed Democrats in the Legislature for not passing the public employee benefit overhaul he had proposed. The package has since been passed, but in a different form then he initially proposed.

“The sky started to fall in today,” Christie said of the change in credit rating. He added, “You’ve already seen this morning what the Legislature’s inaction has cost the State of New Jersey.”

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As reported by nj.com, strapped by recession and plagued by rising violence, some New Jersey police departments are about to get a little help from Washington. The U.S. Department of Justice announced state municipalities will receive $6 million in federal grant money to bolster departments thinned by deep cuts to city budgets.

“This funding will help New Jersey police departments to fund special task forces to combat the violence that is plaguing our cities,” said U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, who personally petitioned Attorney General Eric Holder for the grant money, citing Newark and Camden as the most in need. “I am so pleased that the Department of Justice has released these urgently needed funds which will help to ensure the safety of our citizens.”

Newark laid off 163 police officers last year in a citywide downsizing not seen since the 1970s. Camden lost half its police force when it laid off 168 officers. It has since hired back 75, but still has one of the highest crime rates in the nation.

How the money will be distributed has not been determined, but the decision will ultimately be up to Governor Chris Christie as well as a formula dictated by the Department of Justice.

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As reported by nj.com, a Superior Court judge challenging the increased payments judges must make under newly-enacted changes to public worker health and pension benefit plans will not be allowed to have his case directly sent to the New Jersey Supreme Court. In a two-paragraph order issued yesterday, Supreme Court Justice Virginia Long said the state’s highest court will not relax the rules of court to allow Judge Paul DePascale to skip the trial and appellate levels.

DePascale, who sits in Hudson County, filed a complaint last month calling the health and benefit law enacted July 1 unconstitutional for judges, saying it cuts their salaries and threatens their judicial independence. The suit is the first legal challenge to the health and benefit law. Other state public employee unions are also vowing to sue. Assignment Judge Linda Feinberg in Mercer County is scheduled to hear the matter on September 16.

Depending on the course of action, the case could take years to move through the courts, including the Appellate Division. DePascale’s attorney said the Supreme Court has the discretion to hear a matter on an expedited basis. In her order, Justice Long said DePascale can ask the Supreme Court again to take up the case after Feinberg finishes with it.

The new law, to be phased in over seven years, will make judges’ pension contributions go from 3 percent to 12 percent of their annual salaries. DePascale’s pension deductions would jump by $14,849 by 2017, he said in court filings. In court papers, DePascale also said his health benefits contribution would more than double to $5,230.86. The increased financial contributions begin October 4.

Judicial salaries, set by law, range from $165,000 for Superior Court trial judges, including DePascale, to $192,795 for Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner.

Governor Chris Christie has said judges traditionally have paid the least amount of money into their pension program yet they receive some of the highest payouts. Case law allows judges in New Jersey to hear cases that affect them when there is no other court that has jurisdiction over the matter. The case has not gone to federal court because DePascale’s allegations involve the state-not federal-constitution.

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As reported by nj.com, Governor Chris Christie says contract talks with New Jersey’s largest public worker union are continuing at a slow pace. Christie says the administration has offered proposals on wages and non-economic issues to the Communications Workers of America. However, he does not expect an agreement within the next two weeks.

The contract for 40,000 state CWA employees expired June 30. Hetty Rosenstein, the union’s state director, says the two sides have not met in several weeks and no meetings are scheduled. But, she says the two sides have not reached an impasse and bargaining will continue.

An agreement between Christie and the Legislature to overhaul public worker pensions and health benefits took those issues off the table. Three Democrat union members who approved the deal were denied AFL-CIO candidate endorsements last week.

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As reported by nj.com, people who intentionally kill police dogs or dogs involved in search and rescue operations are now facing stiffer penalties in New Jersey.

Governor Chris Christie recently signed legislation that mandates minimum five-year prison terms, with no chance of parole, for such offenders, who also will face fines of up to $15,000. Previously, the maximum sentence they faced was just three to five years in prison.

The measure, named for a police dog killed in the line of duty last November, was overwhelmingly passed by the Assembly and Senate earlier this year. It then took effect immediately after Christie signed it late last month.  The legislation honors Schultz, a 3 ½ year old German Shepherd who served with the Gloucester Township police force.

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As reported by nj.com, labor leaders in New Jersey, still licking their wounds after losing a fight over pension and health benefits in the Democratic Legislature last month, are being told a new anti-union bill does not stand a chance. 

The leader of the state Assembly told The Associated Press that New Jersey won’t become a battleground over allowing public and private sector workers with union shops to opt out of joining or paying dues. “This legislation is dead on arrival,” Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver said of the right-to-work bill introduced last week. “This type of move may play elsewhere, but, quite simply, this anti-worker bill will see the light of day.”

There are 22 right-to-work states, where labor unions can’t force workers to be members or pay dues. Most are in southern and western states, but they’re gaining interest in other places, especially states where Republicans control the Legislature and the governor’s office. In all, 42 right-to-work bills are pending in 24 states, according to the national Conference of State Legislatures.  

“It really weakens unions, that’s what it’s designed to do,” said Jeffrey Keefe, an associate professor at Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations, who has been watching as momentum ebbs and flows for a technique many view as undercutting organized labor’s influence. “Union dues is another name for tax. Could we imagine the quality of our school system and fire departments if paying taxes was voluntary?”

New Jersey’s bill would affect public workers. The sponsor of the right-to-work measure, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, doesn’t view his legislation as piling on. Still, he quietly introduced the bill prohibiting union dues from being deducted from the paychecks of public employees amid the distraction of a scathing partisan battle over the state budget.

O’Scanlon said workers who believe they benefit by forcing employers to pay them more are mistaken. He said the opt-out legislation helps control building costs and, therefore, encourages economic growth. It also fits with Governor Chris Christie’s anti-union mantra.

Christie, who’s become a national GOP icon known for tough talk and fiscal restraint, has been unrestrained in his criticism of unions, particularly the state’s powerful public teachers union. The New Jersey Education Association, which recently spent $2 million in six weeks on anti-Christie ads, has been the recipient of many a Christie tirade, often for spending union dues teachers are required to pay to finance favored candidates or attack political foes.

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As reported by nj.com, two days after a tirade by Senate President Stephen Sweeney against Governor Chris Christie was published on the front page of The Star-Ledger, Sweeney refused to walk back his comments. “Could I have gone over the top with my language? Probably, I did,” said Sweeney. “But I don’t apologize for it. The governor was wrong to hurt people.”

Sweeney was responding to Christie’s line-item veto of the Democrats’ $30.6 billion budget that slashed programs for the poor, disabled, abused children, student financial assistance, and aid for struggling cities-cuts that went beyond the original budget Christie proposed in February. It also decreased funding for legislative staffing. In The Sunday Star-Ledger, Sweeney called Christie, among other things, a “rotten bastard,” “a punk,” and “Mr. Potter from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ “

Sweeney said the vetoes were personal for him because one of the programs cut was the Early Intervention System, which provides therapy for developmentally disabled and delayed babies and toddlers. Sweeney’s daughter, Lauren, was born with Down Syndrome.

Sweeney said Christie called him Sunday after his comments appeared in the paper, but he would not take the call because he felt neither of them were in a state to talk calmly. “The Governor believes the language used was inappropriate and disrespectful to the office, but he continues to stand ready to work with Senator Sweeney and the Legislature in a bipartisan manner to get things done for the people of New Jersey,” Christie spokeswoman Maria Comella said Tuesday.

Sweeney plans to schedule a Senate vote to override Christie’s vetoes, but cannot until the governor’s office files the vetoes with the Legislature. After that, they have to wait three days before they can vote. “This is about taking money from poor people and putting it back in your own pocket,” said Sweeney, who said Republican lawmakers need to buck the governor and vote to override the vetoes. “My colleagues will have the opportunity to do the right thing,” he said.

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As reported by nj.com, Governor Chris Christie signed into law controversial legislation that will force public employees to pay more for their pension and health insurance. Christie, who signed the bill flanked by a bipartisan cast of mayors, said passage of the bill is his biggest legislative victory since taking office.

“It is an important moment for the State of New Jersey, for its citizens, its taxpayers and New Jersey has once again become a model for America,” Christie said at the bill signing. 

Starting on Friday, public employees across all levels of government will pay an additional percent of their pay into the pension system. Employees will begin to pay more for their health insurance when their contracts expire. For those without contracts or with contracts that have already expired, the increased payments could begin as soon as January, when new health insurance plans are expected to be completed.

The legislation took a bumpy road to passage. Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney began working on the proposal last fall. They faced strong pushback from the public employee unions, who argued that health benefits should be decided at the bargaining table, not through legislation. But the unions were unable to stop the bill.

Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver got on board with the legislation earlier this month. Republican lawmakers joined a coalition of Democrats, mostly those with ties to South Jersey political boss George Norcross and Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, to provide enough support to pass the bill last week.

A last-minute change to remove the most controversial provision of the bill, which would have limited access to out-of-state hospitals, was done through a separate bill, which Christie also signed.

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As reported by nj.com, a contentious bill raising pension and health benefits costs for more than half-million New Jersey government workers goes back to the state Senate one more time on Monday for a formality vote.

A provision in the main bill allowing health plans that restrict out-of-state care will be removed. The provision was seen as a plum to South Jersey political boss George Norcross III, who oversees Cooper University Hospital in Camden, minutes away from Philadelphia. It caused an uproar among public-sector union leaders, who vehemently oppose the entire piece of benefits legislation, and threatened to upend Republican support.

The main bill requires teachers, police, and other public workers to pay part of their health care premiums based on income. Their pension contributions will also rise. Proponents say higher worker contributions are necessary to shore up the underfunded retirement systems, which are shy of their eventual liabilities by $110 billion. Opponents say the pension system is underfunded mostly because the state has repeatedly skipped its annual payments. They say health insurance changes should be negotiated at the bargaining table, not legislated.

Governor Chris Christie is expected to quickly sign the legislation. The governor has already taken victory laps over the weekend, suggesting on national television that Washington could learn from New Jersey’s example when it comes to bipartisan cooperation and curbing spending by passing additional benefits costs onto public workers. 

The bill was fast-tracked through the Legislature after Christie struck a deal with Democrats and Republicans who lead the Senate and Assembly. However, it got through without the support of a majority of Democrats in either house. Debate among Assembly Democrats was especially divisive. That house approved the employee benefits bill and the supplemental measure late Thursday, after several hours behind closed doors. In the midst of that debate, Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver announced that the restriction on out-of-state care would be abandoned.

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As reported by nj.com, New Jersey lawmakers voted to enact a sweeping plan to cut public worker benefits after a long day of high-pitched political drama in the streets of Trenton and behind closed doors. Union members chanted outside the Statehouse and in the Assembly balcony, and dissident Democrats tried to stall with amendments and technicalities. Although they successfully convinced top lawmakers to remove a controversial provision restricting public workers’ access to out-of-state medical care, they failed to halt a historic defeat for New Jersey’s powerful unions and a political victory for Republican Governor Chris Christie.   

More than 8,500 protesters, the most this year, poured into Trenton this morning with signs, speeches and their trademark inflatable rat. But most had dispersed by the time Democrats emerged from their hours-long caucus meetings where they debated the bill’s details and a separate budget proposal. The Assembly convened for a vote at about 6:15 p.m., more than five hours late, and lawmakers delivered speech after speech on the bill for nearly three hours.

Christie and Republicans banded together with Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver to advance the bill despite opposition from the majority of Democrats who control the Legislature. The bill passed the Assembly 46-32 and will be sent to Christie’s desk for his signature. Fourteen Democrats voted for the bill, while 32 opposed it. After the vote, protesters in the balcony shouted “Shame on you!”

Unions have blasted the bill for ending their ability to collectively bargain their medical benefits. Health care plans for 500,000 public workers would be set by a new state panel comprised of union workers and state managers, rather than at the negotiating table. A sunset provision would allow unions to resume collective bargaining after increased health care contributions are phased in over four years. In addition, police officers, firefighters, teachers and rank-and-file public workers would all pay more for their pensions and health benefits.

Supporters of the bill say the state needs to cut costs because the pension and health systems are underfunded by more than $120 billion total. The Christie administration estimated the bill would save $3 billion in health benefits over the next 10 years and $120 billion in pension costs over 30 years. Much of the pension savings are from the controversial elimination of the cost-of-living adjustments for retirees, which unions have threatened to challenge in court. 

The union protest, like other recent demonstrations, did nothing to stop the bill. But, it did highlight the growing fissures in the state Democratic Party. While Sweeney and Oliver were pushing the bill, the chairman of the state party, Assemblyman John Wisniewski was rallying protesters with two-dozen other Democrats.

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As reported by nj.com, New Jersey’s battle over benefits could hit a fever pitch today. Thousands of public workers are expected to stage what leaders vow will be their biggest Statehouse protest yet over a controversial bill to force them to pay more for health insurance and pensions. The bill is up for final passage in the Assembly, which would send it to Governor Chris Christie, who is expected to sign it swiftly.

Leading up to today’s battle, a state workers union chapter filed a federal suit against the state saying its contract was broken because pension payments were skipped. Christie pitched the plan where he was booed by some teachers. At a town hall in Fair Lawn, Christie said the measure, a focal point of his agenda, is needed to restore the state’s fiscal balance and ensure the solvency of the pension fund. “We have support with both political parties to do this,” he said. “It isn’t like other states.”

With the passage in the Assembly seeming almost inevitable, one union began what could be the first of several court battles. Local 1033 of the Communications Workers of America filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming the state failed to meet its contractual obligations when it did not contribute to the pension system. Rae Roeder, president of the local 1033, the only CWA chapter that has all its members in the same pension fund, said the members of the union voted to move forward with the lawsuit. The union is also alleging the legislation, which would eliminate cost of living adjustments for retirees, violates federal contract law. The suit asks that full payments be made into the pension fund.

The unions yesterday continued their war of words with Senate President Stephen Sweeney. Hetty Rosenstein, state director for the CWA, contested comments Sweeney made earlier this week that negotiations over the bill fell apart when the union demanded that the content of the health plans be included in the legislation. Sweeney has said the unions were trying to subvert collective bargaining, a charge unions have made against he and Christie.

Rosenstein said the proposal sent to them by Sweeney included no details and was not in writing, putting them in a tough spot to sign on. “This is not anything that any union could accept or that we could do in any fairness to our members,” Rosenstein said. “Somehow we’re supposed to say ‘yes’ to that.”

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As reported by nj.com, under pressure to regain control of the issues in Trenton, Democratic sources said Tuesday that legislators plan to introduce their own budget next week that will include money for police departments and property tax relief for the elderly.

The plan to reshape Governor Chris Christie’s $29.6 billion budget is emerging with time running out before the June 30 deadline and as Democratic leaders break from rank-and-file members on a plan to overhaul benefits for public employees. The legislation sharply raises the cost to employees for health and pension benefits, and will deliver a political victory for Governor Christie. The legislation was approved by the Senate on Monday and awaits a final Assembly vote Thursday.

Looking toward passage of the budget, which was delayed as lawmakers fought over the benefits plan, Democrats will propose reviving a program cut by Christie last year that provides property tax relief to residents 65 and older who earn less than $80,000 a year, the sources said. They also plan to seek financial relief for police departments stung by layoffs while experiencing an increase in crime, like Newark. The amount to be allocated is still under discussion. “That is a priority for Democrats,” said Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, adding that the money would go to departments “where there have been real challenges.” 

When asked whether Democrats planned to introduce their own budget or nibble around the edges of Christie’s. Oliver said, “I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag.”

State Sen. Paul Sarlo, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said Democrats were “developing a list of priorities” and that his committee would consider the “total package” on Monday. The Assembly may hear the bill on the same day. 

A spokesman for the governor, Kevin Roberts, said Christie has fulfilled his obligation by submitting a balanced budget and will review the budget when lawmakers sent it to him for his signature. Christie had pledged to triple property tax rebates for residents already receiving them if lawmakers overhauled health and pension benefits. It was not clear whether the Democrat proposal takes into account the governor’s commitment.

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As reported by nj.com, fierce opposition could not stop the Senate from passing a contentious measure Monday that will sharply raise the cost of health benefits and pensions for the state’s 500,000 public employees. With protesters dressed in Revolutionary-era garb gathered outside the Statehouse and union members clamoring inside, the pivotal Senate vote came on the same day the Assembly Budget Committee approved by a 7-5 vote an identical version following eight hours of testimony.  

After days of protest from Democrats, Republicans and union members, a last-minute provision inserted by Senate President Stephen Sweeney limiting public employees’ access to out-of-state hospitals was weakened hours before lawmakers met Monday. The changes agreed to by Sweeney, shortly before the Senate approved the measure 24-15, would allow public workers to receive out-of-state care at a higher cost if a doctor decides the treatment is not available in New Jersey.

The Senate vote earlier in the day was a major legislative victory for Sweeney and Governor Chris Christie, who along with others hammered out the agreement over the last two months even as they sparred over other issues. The bill increases pension costs up to two percent of workers’ salaries for all public employees, while at least doubling, and in many cases tripling, their health care contributions. It also raises the retirement age from 62 to 65, eliminates cost-of-living adjustments and creates a board to formulate a menu of health plans, including low-cost, high-deductible options.

The Assembly is scheduled to vote on the bill Thursday, when it is expected to pass, just as in the Senate, despite little Democratic support. The changes are expected to save $10 million next year, far less than the $300 million the Christie administration had expected.

The Senate legislation (S2937) passed with the support of a handful of Democrats. One Democrat after another took the floor to condemn the bill, saying it curtailed the right to collectively bargain, drawing applause and cheers from the gallery. Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono said undermining the collective bargaining process “erodes out identity as a nation.” “Today is all about politics,” she said. The bill was a result of “back-room deals” instead of open debate. It restricts competition, she said, “an affront to free-market principles.”  

Sweeney’s defenders were primarily Republicans, including state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos, a close friend of the governor. He called it a “historic day,” and praised Sweeney’s leadership.

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As reported by app.com, more union protests are planned at the New Jersey Statehouse for Monday as the debate over public employee benefits rages on. A bill requiring sharply higher pension and health care contributions from 500,000 public employees will be voted on in the Senate on Monday, the same day the contentious bill gets its first public hearing in the Assembly.

“This is the defining moment for the labor movement in our generation,” AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech worte in an email to enlist support for Monday’s rally, the latest of several recent Capitol protests. “Only through your presence in Trenton on Monday will we make the difference.” Wowkanech was among 25 union members who were arrested after disrupting a Senate hearing on the bill last Thursday. They were issued disorderly persons summonses and released.

Democrats who lead the Senate have aligned with Republican Governor Chris Christie and GOP legislative leaders to support a bill that charges employees more to help shore up the underfunded retirement systems. A new tiered system will require teachers, police and firefighters and other public workers to pay a portion of their health insurance premiums based on income. Pension contributions will also rise by 1 percent immediately, and by an additional percent or more after a seven-year phase in. Public sector unions are vehemently opposed, in part because the bill limits collective bargaining over health care. Many Democrats agree.   

A provision to allow collective bargaining over health care to resume after four years did little to quell objections. A call to split the bill into two, one for pensions, which has wide support, and one for health care, has so far been refused by Senate President Stephen Sweeney. Christie also has said he would not support separate measures. The employee benefits bill has enough votes to pass in both the Senate and the Assembly as is, even though a majority of Democrats in both houses do not support it.

A fight also looms Monday about a provision deep inside the bill to limit public workers’ access to out-of-state medical care. The proposal restricts use of out-of-state doctors and hospitals unless similar care is not available in New Jersey. There are some exceptions, like emergency care, and employees would have to be offered a plan allowed unrestricted access to out-of-state care. That option would cost more.

Opponents of the provision say it’s imperative that all workers and their families have access to the same level of medical benefits. Proponents of the measure say the state’s doctors and hospitals are as good as any and the state should encourage their use.

The state teachers union says Sweeney’s friend and mentor, southern New Jersey Democratic powerbroker George Norcross, would benefit from the provision. Norcross, who heads Cooper Health System and Cooper University Hospital, denied the allegation.

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As reported by nj.com, irate public employees converged on the Statehouse by the thousands Thursday touting horns, carrying signs, and disrupting a Senate hearing, but the show of force failed to break a legislative agreement overhauling their state health and pension benefits. Union members gathered at the Statehouse steps and clogged a Senate hearing room in an effort to thwart the progress of a bipartisan bill that was worked out Wednesday night between Democrats and Republicans.

There was even an inflatable rat outside the Statehouse annex with a sign on its chest that said, “Pension betrayal.” At one point the police led more than two dozen union workers from the hearing and charged them with disorderly conduct after they locked arms and began shouting “kill the bill” and “workers rights are human rights.”

As the raucous crowd cheered on union leaders and disgruntled Democrats, the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee absorbed a litany of blistering criticism of the bill and the legislators who support it. The measure, if approved, will force the state’s 500,000 public workers to assume a much larger share of the costs for health care and pension benefits. The labor leaders testified that health benefits should be negotiated, not legislated, and urged the panel to split the measure into separate bills. For four hours, union leaders pleaded in vain with Democratic legislators to vote against the measure, which was approved by a 9-4 vote.

Governor Chris Christie praised the measure Thursday at the annual conference of the New Jersey Association of Counties meeting in Atlantic City. “New Jersey is setting a model for dealing with these problems in an honest, forthright and bipartisan way,” he boasted.

The bill shifts more of the costs of health and pension benefits onto public workers in the form of increased contributions, while also freezing cost of living adjustments for retirees and raising the retirement age. Christie, who helped shape the bill, has said he hoped to save $300 million from health benefit reform, but a state treasury official testified that the bill would only save $10 million. Christie and lawmakers have until June 30 to fill the gap and approve his $29.6 billion budget for the next fiscal year.

The 9-4 vote, which included support from four Democrats, set up a vote by the full Senate on Monday, the same day the Assembly Budget Committee will hold its hearing. If approved, the full Assembly will vote on Thursday. While Democrats control both chambers, a majority of them oppose the bill, so Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, who accepted the deal much more reluctantly, are relying on Republicans to pass the bill.

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As reported by nj.com, rank-and-file Democrats are lining up to take the microphone at a steadily growing union rally outside the Statehouse today, vowing to cast no votes on a bill that would overhaul pension and benefits for teachers, cops, firefighters, and others.

Assemblymen Wayne DeAngelo, Daniel Benson, Patrick Diegnan, Reed Gusciora, Vincent Prieto, and state Sen. Ray Lesniak blasted the bill and said the changes being proposed should be negotiated, not legislated. “There’s a lot of sheep inside, and the lions are out here fighting,” Gusciora said as legislators inside the Statehouse took up the bill, designed by Senate President Stephen Sweeney, at a Senate budget committee hearing. Lesniak said he will introduce legislation reviving a millionaires’ tax, which would raise the marginal tax rate for people earning more than $1 million, on Monday.

Representatives from the largest state unions-the CWA, the NJEA, AFSCME and police and firefighter groups-are also planning to denounce the bill from the podium.  “Do not think you can sell us out in June and buy us back in November,” warned Barbara Keshishian, the NJEA president. “I am mad as hell about politicians who were elected by the people but sell their votes to the powerful.” 

Union workers in the audience were fired up, booing loudly, and sounding disapproving notes on a tuba at mentions of Sweeney, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, and Governor Chris Christie.

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As reported by nj.com, despite a rising chorus of opposition from fellow Democrats, the Senate President and Assembly Speaker pressed forward Tuesday to overhaul health and pension benefits for the state’s 500,000 public employees. After trying for a week to line up Democratic support for the measure with little success, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver announced that she had scheduled a hearing on the controversial plan on Monday.

Oliver’s decision came on the same day that Senate President Stephen Sweeney introduced his 120-page bill, which is scheduled for a hearing before the budget committee on Thursday. It shifts more of the costs of pension and health benefits onto public workers in the form of increased contributions, along with eliminating cost of living adjustments for retirees and pushing back the retirement age. Nearly all of the state’s public workers would see their health insurance costs at least double and in many instances triple.  

As momentum has built for the plan among Senate leaders eager for an agreement, so has union opposition. Labor leaders are urging members to rally at the Statehouse on Thursday to block what they see as a crucial blow to the collective bargaining rights in the state.

Unlike Sweeney, who is relying largely on Republicans, Oliver has said she will not move the bill without “significant” support of her party. Tuesday she said she wanted to use the committee hearing to touch off an earnest debate.

So far Governor Chris Christie, despite working with Sweeney on the measure, has not publicly endorsed it. Union members and lawmakers have not expressed their opposition to the portion of the bill concerning pensions, and several lawmakers want the pension and health changes put in separate bills.

Currently, the average public employee earns about $60,000 a year and pays 1.5 percent of that salary, or $900 a year, for health benefits. Under the Sweeney bill, the same employee could pay $2,056 annually for single coverage and $3,230 annually for a family plan. Employees with the lowest incomes would pay about 2 percent of their salaries for health benefits, while those who earn $110,000 would kick in 6 percent of their salaries.

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As reported by nj.com, the state’s top lawmakers said Monday they cleared a significant hurdle in efforts to overhaul public employee benefits after agreeing to a plan that shifts more medical costs onto workers while protecting future collective bargaining rights.

The spotlight now turns to Governor Chris Christie, who has been uncharacteristically quiet as Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and Senate President Stephen Sweeney hammer out the final details of a controversial bill overhauling pension and health benefits that is scheduled for its first legislative hearing on Thursday. 

Sweeney endorsed a plan Monday being promoted by Oliver that would increase health benefits contributions for all of the state’s 500,000 public workers but allow unions to seek lower rates at the negotiating table starting in 2014. “The sunset provision is certainly fair and is another example of the kinds of compromise we have been able to achieve with this legislation,” Sweeney said in a written statement.

A spokesman for Christie, Michael Drewniak, said the governor had no comment on the sunset provision or the broader proposal. Christie has spent the last 18 months as governor making his case for overhauling what he has contended are overly lavish pension and health benefits for the state’s public employees, often resorting to blunt criticism of them, their union leaders and Democratic lawmakers.

Sweeney and Christie recently agreed on a plan that shifts more of the costs of pensions and health benefits to public workers in the form of increased contributions, along with pushing back the retirement age and freezing cost-of-living adjustments for retirees. Leaders of the state’s public unions have mounted a fierce opposition to the proposal, urging members to reach out to legislators, lobbying in the halls of the Statehouse and issuing blistering news releases questioning lawmakers’ commitment to collective bargaining.

Sweeny has decided to bring the bill to the Senate floor despite lack of support from Democrats, and will rely on Republicans to approve the measure. Facing similar opposition, Oliver has said she will not move the bill without “significant” support from Assembly Democrats, and it’s unclear whether the sunset provision has resulted in enough support to overcome that self-imposed threshold.

The sunset provision may attract lawmakers who were on the fence, but it will probably do little to persuade staunch supporters of collective bargaining, like Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, whose district includes many state employees. “Any legislative attempt to erode the rights of public workers is a mistake,” said Watson Coleman.

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As reported by nj.com, Governor Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney were poised to announce an agreement on a plan to overhaul health and pension benefits for public employees, but were stymied after the compromise received a chilly reception in the Assembly. “We are not there yet,” said Speaker Sheila Oliver, who found herself wedged between two of the state’s most powerful politicians.

Word of the agreement also drew quick opposition from public labor unions across the state, who said it represented an attack on collective bargaining rights by taking away their ability to negotiate health benefits. 

The plan would require the state’s 500,000 public employees to contribute more money for their pensions and health benefits than they currently do and freezing cost-of-living adjustments for retirees until the pension funds stabilize. The overhaul, which lawmakers have agonized over since Christie took office a year and a half ago, would address two of the most costly issues facing the state.

New Jersey has promised $66.7 billion in medical benefits to current and future retirees, the highest tag among the 50 states, but has not set aside a single penny to pay for it. At the same time, the state has about 66 percent of the assets needed to meet its future pension obligations, ranking it among the worst funded in the nation. 

Oliver outlined the plan to caucus members in a closed-door meeting, where many told her that while changes in the pension plan were needed, they agreed with union leaders that the health benefits should be negotiated and not legislated. More than a dozen union leaders stood outside the room where the Assembly Democrats had gathered, hoping the members of lower chamber would provide a bulwark against the part of the package that addresses health benefits.

Facing a similar lack of support, Sweeney has lined up a small group of Democratic senators who have agreed to join with Republicans to make sure there are enough votes to pass the overhaul, which will be wrapped up in one bill. In a written statement, Sweeney said the plan would save taxpayers $120 billion over an unspecified period of time, while protecting the pensions and health benefits of low- to middle-income workers. Notably, the statement did not include any details about the plan, such as how it would save taxpayers $120 billion.

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As reported by nj.com, public workers would pay more for their pension and health benefits under a deal struck between Governor Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney. Under the deal, most public workers would immediately pay an additional 1 percent of their salaries for their pensions, while police and firefighters would pay an additional 1.5 percent. The State would pledge to increase its pension contributions to legally required levels.

Workers would pay up to 30 percent of their health care premiums after a four-year period. But, unlike Governor Christie’s original proposal, the payments would be tiered based on income, so employees with lower salaries pay less.

CWA New Jersey Director Hetty Rosenstein declined to discuss the specifics of the proposal, but said she’s opposed to legislation that “undermines collective bargaining.” “This proposal attacks collective bargaining. It’s absolutely unaffordable. And it does not one thing-there’s no indication that it does anything to address the high cost of health care,” she said. 

Public unions want health benefits to be decided through collective bargaining, not legislation. “We feel there is an avenue in the Assembly where we can protect our collective bargaining rights,” said Dominick Marino, president of the Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey.  

Assemblywoman Joan Quigley said there is vocal opposition to health benefits legislation inside her caucus. “The Assembly is really just learning for the first time of the deal. There are millions of questions, and right now I don’t think there’s a consensus either way,” she said.

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As reported by nj.com, after asserting for months that state employee health benefits will be overhauled through legislation, Governor Chris Christie’s office is now seeking the changes through collective bargaining with the state’s largest employee union.

“He’s out of his cage!” read a memo to Communications Workers of America members obtained by the Star-Ledger, joking about Christie’s comments in March that he was looking forward to collective bargaining. “Let me at them,” Christie said at the time, showing his willingness to go out and negotiate. “Get me out of the cage and let me go.”

At a Statehouse news conference Thursday, Christie called the offer to unions a “good faith effort” but reiterated his desire to have the Legislature pass a bill and force the unions to accept his plan to make them pay 30 percent of the cost of health benefits. “We can chew gum and walk at the same time,” Christie said.

Hetty Rosenstein, the state director for the CWA, said she is optimistic moving forward. “We hope that we can begin to engage in serious negotiations with the governor,” Rosenstein said.

The governor’s initial offer to employees at the bargaining table was nearly identical to the proposal he sent to the Legislature-having workers pay 30 percent of the cost of their insurance premiums, according to the memo. In addition, the administration could increase co-pays for the duration of the four-year contract.

The offer came during the seventh meeting between the CWA and the governor’s office to negotiate a new contract for the 40,000 employees the union represents. The current contract expires on June 30.

“The Senate president has said all along that he believes the governor should at least hear the unions out at the table, so he is very happy with the administration’s action,” said Chris Donnelly, a Senate Democratic spokesman.

Jeff Keefe, a labor professor at Rutgers University, said Christie was probably trying to short-circuit the unfair practice charge recently filed against him by the CWA, since efforts to legislate benefit changes could be halted if PERC sided with the union. “I don’t think they’re going to have any meaningful give and take at the bargaining table,” Keefe said. “He wants to avoid having PERC rule against him. That would throw the whole budget situation up in the air.”

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As reported by app.com, New Jersey’s largest state worker union filed an unfair practice charge against Governor Chris Christie’s administration, saying the administration has so far refused to negotiate health care costs. 

The Communication Workers of America filed the charge with the state Public Employment Relations Commission (“PERC”) on May 12, 2011. Union leader Hetty Rosenstein said the union has met six times with the Governor’s staff, but the administration will not respond to CWA’s proposal on health care benefits.

The Republican Governor has made a national name for his fights with union leaders, especially teachers. He has said he wants state workers to pay a greater share of their health care costs and wants to achieve those changes through legislation rather than collective bargaining, while at the same time insisting he “loves collective bargaining.”

“When is Governor I-love-collective-bargaining going to negotiate?” Rosenstein said. Christie Spokesman Kevin Roberts said negotiations are still in the early stages and are ongoing.

The CWA is pushing to reform benefits through collective bargaining rather than legislation and has also put forward a plan. It would have workers continue to pay 1.5 percent of their salary and 8.5 percent of their premium by the fourth and final year of a new contract. It says that would save the state more than $200 million.

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As reported by nj.com, Governor Chris Christie signed a bill into law that will require public workers hired after September 1, from teachers and cops to all local, county and state work employees, to live in New Jersey. New hires outside the state’s borders will have a year from getting a job to pack up and move. Current public workers will not be affected.

New Jersey is the first state in the nation to enact a law mandating a residency requirement for its public employees, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Pennsylvania law requires only its civil service employees to live within the state, according to the New Jersey Senate Majority officials.

“With this law we are simply saying that as matter of policy, when it comes to providing public employment opportunities in New Jersey, we are looking to put our own residents first,” said Senator Donald Norcross, one of the bill’s sponsors. “This will help support our workforce, while at the same time keeping our tax dollars in the state.  This is not only sound public policy, but it makes good economic sense.” 

Christie vetoed an earlier version of the bill in February, but only to seek some technical changes. In his veto message, he noted: “I commend the sponsors for their efforts to increase employment opportunities for New Jersey residents, by ensuring that citizens throughout the state enjoy access to public positions in their communities.” 

Lawmakers agreed with the Governor’s changes to delay the effective date of the law until four months after its enactment, and expand the panel to review hardship requests seeking an exemption from the residency requirement from three to five people.

The law would apply to all public employees, including state, county and municipal governments, boards, agencies, commissions, public schools and universities. But some exemptions will be granted, such as for visiting college professors and other employees “requiring special expertise or extraordinary qualifications in an academic, scientific, technical, professional, or medical field or in administration.” Employees who are required to spend a majority of their time outside New Jersey would also get a pass on the law. Other public employees could apply to a committee for an exemption because of a “critical need or hardship.”

As of mid-January, 5,814, or 8 percent, of the state’s 71,953 employees lived out of state, according to the Department of Treasury, although the law will not apply to anyone who held a job before the measure was enacted. No figures were available for all public workers.

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As reported by nj.com, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says he and lawmakers are close to an agreement on ending huge payouts to retiring public employees for unused sick days. However, Governor Christie says he will not accept a deal that allows for any payouts going forward.

Republicans and Democrats agree that cash-outs that can total hundreds of thousands of dollars strain local budgets. They differ on how to best fix the problem.

Christie conditionally vetoed a bill in December that would have capped the amount of accumulated sick leave employees can cash out from here on at $15,000.

Please continue to check this blog periodically to ascertain updates regarding this issue.

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As reported by nj.com, with Senate President Stephen Sweeney set to rely on Republican votes to overhaul public employee benefits, the fate of the controversial plan may depend on whether Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver follows his lead. 

Assembly Democrats met in private and few embraced the Senate President’s plan of combining sweeping changes to public employee pensions and medical benefits into one bill, according to three sources who attended the meeting. The meeting was not called to discuss the issue, but it was raised by members who later voiced opposition about combining both measures into one bill and legislating medical benefits, according to the sources, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about caucuses.

Oliver has not said what she plans to do. She said in a statement: “The Assembly continues to be increasingly frustrated by the governor’s failure to show leadership and do what he’s supposed to do-negotiate a contract that both protects taxpayers and worker rights.” The lack of Democratic support means Oliver would have to decide whether to move the legislation without the majority support of her party, a political gamble that would come as members prepare for fall elections.

“It would be a historic precedent that needs to be weighed carefully,” said Assemblyman Gary Schaer, who opposes the medical benefit proposals because he says they do nothing to control costs. Assemblyman John Wisniewski doesn’t believe the two proposals can be combined into one bill because the state Constitution requires legislation to have a single purpose. Like others, he said medical benefits should be dealt with at the negotiating table.  Assemblyman Tom Giblin said Democrats should be unified on this issue. “We have always stood up for the working man, and I think we should continue to do that,” he said.

Facing similar odds, Sweeney has lined up a small group of Democratic senators who said they would be willing to join with Republicans to help ensure there is enough votes to pass the bill, according to four sources familiar with the plan. Sweeney is prepared to move the bill for a vote before Memorial Day. Sweeney and Gov. Chris Christie are still negotiating the shape of the final bill, and sources were not briefed on the details being discussed.  

If Sweeney and Oliver move forward without the majority support of their party, they are putting themselves and members at political risk, says Brigid Harrison, a political scientist at Montclair State University. While unions don’t have the political clout they once enjoyed, Christie’s rhetoric combined with labor battles in Wisconsin and Ohio have awakened members who will be mobilized this fall, Harrison said. “Christie has energized a flabby, sleeping giant,” she said.

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As reported by nj.com, despite slim Democratic support, state Senate President Stephen Sweeney is prepared to move forward with a plan to overhaul public employee pensions and health benefits before the end of next month. Sweeney has lined up a small group of Democratic senators who said they would be willing to join with Republicans to help ensure there are enough votes to enact sweeping changes to public employee benefits.

The move signals that ongoing negotiations between Sweeney and Gov. Chris Christie over the shape of the changes are progressing. The sources, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the negotiations, said lawmakers have not been told of specific details, but Sweeney assured Democrats the plan would require workers to contribute more to health benefits and would take their salaries into account.

Sweeney spokesman Chris Donnelly declined to comment on what steps Sweeny has taken or will take to enact the changes, but expressed confidence a bill would pass the Senate. “Reform is coming and the Senate president will have more than enough votes to get it done,” Donnelly said.

The momentum is likely to anger public employee unions and even some Democrats, who argue that employee medical benefits should be decided at the bargaining table, not through legislation. Hetty Rosenstein, regional director for the state’s largest public employee union, called a move to vote on changes to medical benefits “disgusting.” “For Democrats to support a bill that eliminates collective bargaining around health care…that’s hugely problematic for Democrats and wrong,” Rosenstein said. “We expect the Democratic Party to stand up for collective bargaining.”

Sweeney and Christie have found common ground on changes to public employee medical benefits, but less on the issue of pensions. Sweeney introduced a bill that would increase employee medical benefit contributions over seven years and set a sliding scale of 12 to 30 percent of premiums, based on salary. Christie wants to phase increases over three years and have all employees pay 30 percent of their premiums. He also wants to increase the eligibility requirements for post-employment health care.

Both said pension reform is necessary to restore fiscal health to a pension system that was underfunded by $54 billion as of the latest actuarial account.

Christie wants to increase the retirement age to 65 for many employees, require all public employees to contribute 8.5 percent of their salaries into the pension system, and eliminate cost-of-living increases for all current and future retirees. Sweeney has also proposed a series of pension revisions that include creating a board that would have management over the system’s investments and determine employee contribution rates based upon an annual actuarial analysis.

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As reported by nj.com, after two months of stinging recriminations and heated controversy, Governor Chris Christie signed legislation to end the early release of inmates. Christie has blamed the early-release program for two killings allegedly committed by former inmates allowed out of prison months ahead of schedule.

“From a public policy and public safety point of view, the statutory early-release law was a disaster,” he said in a statement. “Repeal should have happened 10 months ago, when we predicted and warned of the tragic circumstances that would follow if this law remained in effect.” Christie added, “Our communities and the safety of our citizens must get first consideration, and repeal of this law accomplishes that.”

The governor’s signature canceled the release of four inmates yesterday and 14 scheduled to be released today. About 400 inmates had been released early since the program began on January 3. 

A war of words broke out in March between Christie and Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson-Coleman, who sponsored the program, after it was disclosed that two former inmates had been charged with homicide after being released early. Christie blamed Watson Coleman for the deaths, while she said his administration failed to properly supervise former inmates.

Watson Coleman has argued that the program would improve public safety because inmates released early would be under state supervision rather than finishing sentences with no strings attached. Yesterday, she expressed concern that the state had “taken a step backward” in its effort to reduce recidivism.

The controversy over the early-release program dates to its signing by Governor Jon Corzine on his last day in office. When he approved Watson Coleman’s bill last year, Corzine attached a signing statement saying he expects the early-release provision “will not become effective.”

Christie and Watson Coleman have fought over what that meant. Coleman said she only committed to ensuring inmates were not released before their first parole dates; Christie said she broke her promise to roll back the entire program.

The bill signed by Christie yesterday also restores more discretion to the Parole Board, allowing it to determine an inmate’s parole eligibility rather than being required to review each case every three years. “These are decisions that belong not with the lawmakers but with professionals who have taken on this responsibility for decades,” Christie said.

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As reported by nj.com, lawmakers moved toward eliminating the state’s controversial early-release program, which allows some inmates out of prison six months ahead of schedule. Governor Chris Christie and some lawmakers have blamed the program for two homicides allegedly committed by inmates released early.

Christie accelerated the program’s repeal with a conditional veto of related legislation intended to broaden the Parole Board’s discretion to review cases. The Senate approved the conditional veto, sending the measure to the Assembly.

“There are no more excuses left,” Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said in a statement. “The Assembly must act immediately to repeal this dangerous failure of a law.”  Senators overwhelmingly backed repealing the program, but not without some debate. Senator Nia Gill criticized Christie for what she called personal attacks on Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, who sponsored the program. Senator Ronald Rice, the only lawmaker to vote against repeal, was also critical, saying, “It wasn’t an assemblyman or a senator who killed these people.”

Others said ending the program was overdue. “Two New Jerseyans lost their lives because of inaction in this chamber,” Senator Tom Kean said. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver did not say how her caucus would vote on the issue, but said in a statement that “clearly concerns have been raised that warrant re-examination” of the program.

Since the program began on January 3, 363 inmates have been released early, according to the Parole Board. Twenty-two have been arrested for new crimes. That includes Antoine Trent and Tyree Brown, who were accused of attacking a police officer in Union Township last week. Another former inmate, Quamere Redding, has been charged with attacking and robbing a 49-year-old woman earlier this month in Bridgeton. All three of them had been denied parole before being released early through the program, according to Parole Board Executive Director David Thomas.

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As reported by nj.com, lawmakers moved toward eliminating the state’s controversial early-release program, which allows some inmates out of prison six months ahead of schedule. Governor Chris Christie and some lawmakers have blamed the program for two homicides allegedly committed by inmates released early.

Christie accelerated the program’s repeal with a conditional veto of related legislation intended to broaden the Parole Board’s discretion to review cases. The Senate approved the conditional veto, sending the measure to the Assembly.

“There are no more excuses left,” Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said in a statement. “The Assembly must act immediately to repeal this dangerous failure of a law.”  Senators overwhelmingly backed repealing the program, but not without some debate. Senator Nia Gill criticized Christie for what she called personal attacks on Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, who sponsored the program. Senator Ronald Rice, the only lawmaker to vote against repeal, was also critical, saying, “It wasn’t an assemblyman or a senator who killed these people.”

Others said ending the program was overdue. “Two New Jerseyans lost their lives because of inaction in this chamber,” Senator Tom Kean said. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver did not say how her caucus would vote on the issue, but said in a statement that “clearly concerns have been raised that warrant re-examination” of the program.

Since the program began on January 3, 363 inmates have been released early, according to the Parole Board. Twenty-two have been arrested for new crimes. That includes Antoine Trent and Tyree Brown, who were accused of attacking a police officer in Union Township last week. Another former inmate, Quamere Redding, has been charged with attacking and robbing a 49-year-old woman earlier this month in Bridgeton. All three of them had been denied parole before being released early through the program, according to Parole Board Executive Director David Thomas.

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As reported by nj.com, the Reverend Al Sharpton stepped into New Jersey’s budget battle, joining a chorus of union leaders criticizing Governor Chris Christie’s economic policies and urging New Jerseyans to push back against a nationwide campaign to weaken organized labor. At rallies in Newark, Trenton, and Vineland, Sharpton said the state would be violating its workers’ civil rights if it reneges on its pension commitments. He also chastised Christie for feuding with teachers, and warned that governors across the country are on a mission to balance their budgets at the expense of the working class.

“We can cut back people’s pensions. We can lay off workers. We can close hospitals, schools, psychiatric centers. We can deal with changing tenure for teachers-but don’t touch the rich,” Sharpton said at Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton. “They have become the sacred cow that can’t be touched…while workers become the slaughtered lamb.”

Two national union leaders joined Sharpton onstage and blamed Wall Street’s recklessness for the budget deficits afflicting Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, New Jersey and other states where governors have squared off with unions. “That’s what this coordinated attack is. It’s saying to workers, ‘I know you didn’t create the problem, but you solve it,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “That’s what we’re fighting.”

Christie has called for an overhaul of the state’s pension and health benefits systems for public workers, but has yet to hammer out a deal with the Democrats in control of the Legislature. The two sides have until June 30 to settle on a budget deal for the coming fiscal year. In recent weeks, that debate has been a bitter back-and-forth, with the governor accusing the Legislature of inaction at this town hall events while Democrats fight back in their budget hearings. At the Trenton rally, two Assembly Democrats said Christie was bullying the working class to burnish his conservative credentials.

At the rally in Newark, Sharpton urged 150 anti-violence activists, clergy, and workers to unite against the governor’s efforts to undermine organized labor and implement damaging economic policies. “We have fought governors before and we will stand up to this one,” he said.

Unions have staged several rallies in Trenton this year echoing Sharpton’s message, including one headlined by the AFL-CIO national president in February that drew more than 3,000 people.

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As reported by nj.com, New Jersey’s price tag for public-worker retirement health benefits is higher than any state in the nation, according to a study to be released by the Pew Center on the States. New Jersey has promised $66.7 billion in medical benefits to future and current retirees, but has not set aside a single penny to pay for it, according to the study, which looked at 2009 financial data from all states.

New Jersey’s unfunded liability, the gap between what is owed and what has been saved, is higher than the nation’s most populated states of California ($66.5 billion), New York ($56.2 billion), and Texas ($53.8 billion). In fact, New Jersey’s unfunded liability accounts for 11 percent of the combined $604 billion accrued by all 50 states, the study shows.

With no money set aside, New Jersey is operating without a safety net and its annual medical costs will continue to rise even more as baby boomers retire. “The question is whether these costs are sustainable,” said Kil Huh, director of research at the Pew Center. “The more you pay, the less you’ll have for other services, such as education and health.” In order to better control retiree health costs, states should treat them like pensions, tucking away money each year to pay for future costs, said Huh. The money can then be invested and will eventually lower annual costs. As of 2009, 19 states have set aside no funds for future medical costs, while the others have mostly tucked away a small fraction of what they owe retirees, according to the study.     

Governor Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney are working on changes to the public employee medical system that would push some of the costs to current workers and future retirees in the form of increased contributions. However, neither have proposed establishing a pension-style fund.

With enough in the bank to cover 66 percent of what’s owed in benefits, New Jersey’s pension system is also among the most poorly funded in the nation, according to the study. Based on the percentage funding, New Jersey has the 12^th poorest pension plan in the country. Many states, including New Jersey, have skipped or reduced pension contributions so they could divert money to other areas. Overall, states were supposed to contribute $115 billion to their pensions, but only kicked up $73 billion in 2009.

The study looked at the effect of the Great Recession on retirement benefits and covers the latest data available from the 50 states on pension, health care, and other benefits promised to current and future retirees. The gap between the promises states have made for public employees’ retirement benefits and the money they have set aside grew to at least $1.2 trillion in fiscal 2009, resulting in a 26 percent increase in one year.

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As reported by nj.com, Democratic leaders met with union officials and sources say the topic was overhauling health benefits. Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver met with the heads of the biggest public employee unions: Communications Workers of America, America Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, and the New Jersey Education Association.

Standing outside the meeting, Barbara Keshishian, president of the NJEA, declined to comment, saying the meeting was private. Leaders of the other unions have not responded to a request for comment, but three union and legislative sources said they discussed proposals by Governor Chris Christie and Sweeney to change health benefits for state employees. The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the meeting.

The Governor is pushing for state workers to pay 30 percent of the cost of the premium. Currently, state employees pay 1.5 percent of their salary for health insurance. Sweeney is pushing his own plan that would base contributions on both the cost of the premium and salary. Different from Christie’s proposal, Sweeney is recommending a sliding scale that would have low-income workers paying less than high-paid employees.

The Communications Workers of America, the state’s largest union, released its own plan, which would have workers pay a portion of the premium and a portion of their salary. The CWA plan would have most employees paying 14 percent of the cost of the premium. The CWA, with the backing of several other unions, has argued that the health benefits should be subject to collective bargaining, presently taking place to hammer out a new contract when the current one expires on June 30.

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As reported by nj.com, Governor Chris Christie estimates his plan to overhaul the state’s public employee health benefits system will save more than $870 million a year by 2014 by shifting significant percentage of the costs to employees and future retirees, according to the Treasury Department.

In the most detailed explanation of the proposal to date, Treasury spokesman Andrew Pratt said the governor wants to gradually increase state employee health benefit contributions over three years, requiring them to pay 10 percent of premiums this July and climbing to 30 percent by July 2014. New workers would immediately pay 30 percent. Currently, state employees pay 1.5 percent of their salary for medical benefits. Most Democratic lawmakers and budget observers believed Christie wanted employees to start paying 30 percent of their premiums immediately and assumed that was how he justified savings of $370 million in his proposed state budget.

In response to requests from The Star-Ledger, the administration says the final tally is more than $870 million and the proposal would involve much more than increased contributions, such as tiered plans, increased co-pays and lengthening the eligibility requirements for post-employment health care. The savings represent about one-third of the $2.5 billion the state expects to pay in employee medical costs this year, Pratt said. They would also dwarf initial estimates of a proposal by Senate President Stephen Sweeney, who wants contributions to be based on salary.

Democratic lawmakers who were already skeptical about the $370 million in savings in the proposed budget expressed more disbelief about the latest figures, with the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee calling them “ridiculous.” The Christie plan would not change payouts for current retirees and workers with at least 25 years on the job when the measure takes effect would not be required to pay more when they retire. But, all others would have to pay 30 percent after they retire and workers would not be eligible for post-retirement health coverage unless they work for 30 years, up from 25 years.

With no Republican bill and a lack of Democratic support for Sweeney’s proposal, Christie’s budgeted $370 million in health benefit savings is on shaky ground. It is one of several uncertainties in the governor’s budget. The State Supreme Court is considering whether Christie needs to restore up to $1.6 billion in education cuts and the administration has yet to explain how it plans to achieve $300 million in Medicaid savings through a federal waiver, which faces layers of approvals. “There could be a lot of problems,” said Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Lou Greenwald. “I hate to see him strike out on all three of these.”

To read the article in full, click here.

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As reported by nj.com, after days of playing defense, Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. apologized for the controversy surrounding his pension, which has drawn condemnation from public employee unions and the governor. DiVincenzo “retired” last year as county executive and started collecting his pension while continuing to hold office and earn his full paycheck. “To Essex County residents and to all the employees here, I want to apologize for what happened this weekend,” he said. He added, “I’m sorry that I put us in this position.” 

DiVincenzo did not say it was improper to collect his pension, according to his spokesman, Anthony Puglisi. “He’s not apologizing because he did anything wrong,” he said. “What he said was, this has been a distraction, and he apologized to the employees for taking their attention away from the job ahead.”

The apology, made during a groundbreaking ceremony in West Orange, came after increasing criticism since news of his pension broke. DiVincenzo has worked closely with Governor Chris Christie to reduce public employee benefits, and unions quickly criticized the county executive as a hypocrite.

“This exposes him as a fraud and just another politician who lies to the public,” State Policemen’s Benevolent Association President Anthony Wieners said. This week, Christie chastised DiVincenzo, a political ally, during a Statehouse press conference. “I made this really clear. I think it’s wrong,” the governor said. “And it’s not just for him. It’s wrong for all the other people who are doing it.”

DiVincenzo filed his retirement papers in August, three months before winning his third term as county executive. That added a $68,862 annual pension to his full salary, which was $153,207 last year.

State law allows public employees to retire while still holding elected office as long as they previously held a different public job. DiVincenzo held public jobs in Essex County for nearly three decades, working as a parks supervisor, teacher, athletics coordinator and freeholder before becoming executive in 2003.

Christie and lawmakers from both parties have advocated repealing the law, although the Democrat-controlled Legislature has yet to act on Republican-sponsored bills addressing the issue. Both the governor and DiVincenzo said the pension controversy would not affect their working relationship. “I’ve got to work with him. You think I have the luxury of stopping to work with public officials who do something I don’t agree with?” Christie said. “I’d be sitting in there by myself.”

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As reported by nj.com, Governor Chris Christie panned an alternative proposal by the State’s largest public employee union to overhaul health care benefits. “Their offer stinks,” Christie said at a press conference in Trenton. “It doesn’t save any money.”

Christie wants all state employees to pay for 30 percent of the cost of health insurance plans, an increase from the current structure that has state employees pay 1.5 percent of their salary.

The Communications Workers of America, which represents about 35,000 full-time state employees, made a counter proposal that would determine what workers pay based both on their salary and the cost of the insurance plan. The CWA estimates the average worker would pay about 14 percent of the insurance plan cost and would save taxpayers about $200 million by 2013.

The CWA publically released their counter proposal, which has received the backing of other public employee unions, after union officials say they were told Christie’s administration would not include health care benefits in collective bargaining. Christie has repeatedly said he will seek his change to health benefits through legislation. The unions have pushed for the changes to be part of this year’s collective bargaining over contracts that expire on June 30.

At the press conference, Christie said he is not unwilling to talk about health benefits with the unions at some point down the road, but that he still intends to obtain changes through legislation.

Hetty Rosenstein, state director of the CWA, contended their proposal would save the state millions of dollars. “It’s time for “Governor I Love Collective Bargaining” to quit posturing and start getting serious,” Rosenstein said. “CWA has put forward a comprehensive health care reform proposal that will save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, and if the governor and his bargaining team would sit down with us and negotiate, we could move forward to constructive solutions. It’s long past time for epithets and name-calling, and time to treat the collective bargaining process with the seriousness it deserves.”

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As reported by nj.com, New Jersey’s top fiscal officer says the State will make a half-billion dollar payment to the pension fund when the law requires. Governor Chris Christie has proposed paying the $506 million early, but only if the Legislature agrees to raise the retirement age and require workers to pay more toward their pensions. 

Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff told a Senate budget panel the administration intends to make the payment required in the 2012 fiscal year even if reforms are not enacted. He says the payment will be made by June 30 if changes are approved.

The pension system is $54 billion underfunded. Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney both have proposed changes. Sweeney’s plan would not raise the retirement age and bases employee contributions on the health of the system.

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As reported by nj.com, the state’s largest police union called on Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. to resign in the wake of revelations that he is receiving a salary and pension for the same job.

“This is unbelievable, the man is out yelling about reform and he takes a loophole to retire at a higher salary, a classic example of do as I say not as I do,” State Policemen’s Benevolent Association President Anthony Wieners said in a statement. “This exposes him as a fraud and just another politician who lies to the public.”

DiVincenzo quietly put in his retirement papers in August, allowing him to start drawing a $5,738 monthly pension payment. But, a loophole allows him to continue serving in the same position, earning $153,207 last year. State law allows elected officials in the public employee and police pension systems to “retire” but keep working.

DiVincenzo’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment this morning. In an interview Wednesday, DiVincenzo said he has done nothing wrong by collecting his pension after 29 years of public service. “It’s something I earned,” he said. “Why shouldn’t I be able to collect my pension?”

DiVencenzo, a Democrat, has clashed with law enforcement unions as he works with Republican Governor Chris Christie to rollback pension and health care benefits for public employees. A Christie spokesman declined to comment on DiVincenzo’s pension, but said the governor supports removing the loophole.

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As reported by nj.com, Governor Chris Christie is seeking to halt the early release of state prison inmates with the conditional veto of a separate bill today. The early release program has drawn a firestorm of controversy after two inmates who were allowed out of prison months early were accused of murder.

“Whatever original policy or principle motivated passage of this law, it failed to adequately consider the safety of the public,” Christie said in a statement. “In recent months we have seen the horrific consequences of the early release law, which is why we must not wait any longer to take action and change it.”

The program, which started in January, was sponsored by Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman and signed into law by then-Governor Jon Corzine on his last day in office. Watson Coleman has it is wrong to blame the program for the actions of individual inmates.

A conditional veto is a powerful tool that allows the governor to modify legislation instead of rejecting it outright. Afterward, the bill returns to the Senate, which can accept the changes or seeks to overturn the governor’s recommendations with a two-thirds vote.

Christie conditionally vetoed a bill that would make some inmates wait 10 years, rather than three, for their mandatory parole review. He said that does not go far enough, saying the Parole Board should have more discretion to decide whether to grant a review. Christie went a step further in his conditional veto by seeking the repeal of the early release program, which became law more than a year ago.  

Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver said the early release program needs to be changed. “The legislative intent was a worthy one, but I do believe it warrants reexamination,” she said. “No one wants to see violent offenders, or those that have been convicted of egregious offenses, released early from those sentences.” 

Republican lawmakers, who had launched their own push to stop early releases through new legislation, hailed the governor’s conditional veto. “The governor’s action provides an additional path to repeal New Jersey’s early release law, and I am pleased that he has put his full support behind this effort,” Senator Diane Allen said in a statement. “With two homicides already committed by inmates released under the program, repealing this misguided policy should priority number one for the Legislature.”

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As reported by nj.com, Senate President Stephen Sweeney’s plan to require public workers to kick in more for medical benefits is getting little support from his fellow Democrats. As Sweeney scrambles for votes, Senate Republicans say they favor Governor Chris Christie’s proposal, which a new non-partisan report predicts would save about 16 times more money than Sweeney’s plan next year for state workers alone. Democrats, however, have even less enthusiasm for Christie’s plan.

In a March 16 letter, a senior analyst with the Office of Legislative Services said Sweeney’s bill would save the State about $22 million next year, while Christie’s plan would save about $347 million. Sweeney’s plan would save $206.2 million by the seventh year. The review only covered state workers.

Democrats who oppose the bill argue that how much public workers pay for health benefits should be decided at the bargaining table and not dictated by lawmakers. “This stuff needs to be negotiated,” said State Senator Ron Rice. State Senator John Girgenti said, “Clearly, something needs to be done to curb the rising costs of health benefits, and most public employees believe this as well. But it should happen through collective bargaining, not legislation.”

Some opponents cited a recent offer by the Communications Workers of America, the largest state employee union, to increase contributions after Christie said he will not negotiate medical benefits. The CWA said its plan would save $200 million by 2013.

If the CWA makes a deal with Christie, Sweeney said there “would be no need” for legislation: “I think they knew I’m serious about doing legislation. Now if they can accomplish it through collective bargaining, I think the governor should attempt it.”

Bill supporters say it’s a reasonable alternative to Christie’s plan, which calls for all public workers, regardless of income, to pay 30 percent of their medical premiums. Sweeney wants to phase in the increases over seven years and set a sliding scale of 12 to 30 percent of premiums, based on salary. Currently, public workers pay at least 1.5 percent of their pay for health benefits.

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As reported by app.com, New Jersey officials continued to move the State’s $71.6 billion pension fund into more aggressive, and riskier, investments, as returns have missed their targets for a decade. The decisions included putting $100 million into a private equity fund run by a big fundraiser for President Barack Obama.

State Investment Council Chairman Robert Grady contends the changes will not only provide better returns, but also make the overall pension portfolio safer by making it less subject to increasing interest rates or stock market swings. Union representatives on the council are opposed and prefer the State stick with a traditional mix of stock and bonds. The council voted 8-3 to take another step toward allowing the State’s money managers to invest more than a third, up to 38%, of the pension funds in so-called alternative investments: private equity, hedge funds, real estate, and commodities. The policy is expected to be approved in May.

Some unions, particularly Communications Workers of America Local 1033 representing rank and file state workers, have fought the effort to change the State’s investment strategy and said the State is taking undue risk with the money. The State faces a collective $53.8 billion unfunded liability in the pension fund over the next 30 years. Governor Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney are both proposing sweeping changes to the pension system in an effort to reduce payouts.

The pension funds had gained an average of some 3 percent a year for the past 10 years as stocks swooned in 2001 and the recent financial crisis torpedoed investments broadly. The state pension system is constructed with the expectation that investments would earn 8.25 percent a year. Timothy Walsh, director of the Division of Investment, noted that the state’s pension funds were up just over 15 percent through the first eight months of the fiscal year that began in July, led by outsized gains in the U.S. stock market. Investment officials said the State had made $435 million from private equity firms in the past three months, and they expected greater gains in the months ahead.

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As reported by nj.com, the state’s largest public employee union unveiled its plan for workers to contribute more for their medical coverage in hopes of convincing lawmakers and the public that real savings can be achieved at the bargaining table. 

The Communications Workers of America, which represents about 40,000 state workers, detailed a plan union leaders say would increase employees’ share of insurance premiums to about 14 percent and save taxpayers more than $200 million by 2013. The plan calls for increased monthly contributions and higher co-pays for doctor’s visits and prescription drugs.

Union leaders say they were forced to take the negotiations public after Governor Chris Christie made it clear a week ago that he was not interested in negotiating medical benefits. Those details should be handled through legislation, he said. “Governor Christie professes to love collective bargaining, but we have yet to see it,” said Bob Master, CWA political director. “What’s going on in New Jersey is no different than what’s going on in Wisconsin and Ohio.”

Momentum is building to require all public workers to contribute significantly more for medical benefits. Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney say broad-based legislation is the only way to bring parity between public and private workers and save the state millions. “We’re changing New Jersey, and the CWA has to be part of it,” Christie said at an appearance in Newark. “I know they don’t like the fact that someone will go to the Legislature and fight for the taxpayers rather than fleece the taxpayers, which they’ve been doing over history. Sorry, there’s a new game in town and they’re going to have to get used to it.”

Hetty Rosenstein, state director of CWA, said state workers understand they need to contribute more, but believe the terms should be negotiated, as they have been for decades. While the CWA is the largest state employee union, it represents only a fraction of the 510,000 public workers in the state, and Christie wants the health benefits law to cover all public workers. Christie is hoping to save more than $300 million in the proposed budget with the reform package. Rosenstein said she is trying to reach out to other public employee unions in hopes of having a “mass negotiation” that would help achieve the savings Christie is seeking while preserving the right to collectively bargain medical benefits.  

Under the CWA plan, workers would continue to pay 1.5 percent of their salaries toward medical costs but would also kick in an additional 5 percent of their premiums by 2013. The hybrid model is designed to take into account a worker’s salary. By the end of the contract, average workers would pay about 13.5 percent of their medical premium costs, about $210 a month for family coverage. Rosenstein said with co-pays and other changes, workers would pay about 22 percent of their premiums. Christie wants all public employees to pay 30 percent of their premiums, about $475 a month for family coverage. Sweeney wants workers to pay 12 to 30 percent of premiums, based on salary.

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As reported by nj.com, Governor Chris Christie called for the elimination of an early release program for prison inmates, less than two weeks after an inmate released early allegedly killed a man in Jersey City. Authorities said the former inmate, Rondell Jones, shot and killed a Newark man during a dispute six weeks after release from state prison.

Because his administration cannot unilaterally halt the early releases, the Governor said he will push legislation to cancel it. He harshly criticized Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, who sponsored what Christie called a “rotten idea” to release inmates early. “It’s tragic that because of Assemblywoman Watson Coleman’s philosophy on crime, that we now have one person who has lost his life,” he said. “Given the statistics on how many people are going to be released, we can only hope that there won’t be anybody else who loses their lives.”

Christie said 222 people have been released so far. The early release program, which allows certain inmates to be released on parole six months before their sentence ends, is part of a bill signed by former Governor Jon Corzine mandating more job training and educational programs in prison.

Coleman said the actions of one individual do not mean early releases should be scuttled. “This is a tragedy that anybody killed anybody,” she said. “But does that one act negate the validity of a whole system of reform?” Coleman said Christie was simply trying to smear her with his criticism. “I don’t hold the governor personally responsible for people who have died at the hands of violence because we don’t have enough police in our communities,” she said. “The governor is simply trying to deflect and blame. He does that better than fix things.”

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As reported by nj.com, representatives for Governor Chris Christie have told the state’s largest union that the administration’s plan to sharply increase health care costs for public employees was not negotiable, union leaders said. 

The Governor’s issue first took the issue of health care costs off the table when negotiations over a new contract got underway. However, union officials said they were determined to have a voice in changes to their benefits. “It represents a pretty fundamental attack on a long-established right to bargain over health care which goes back as long as there has been unions in New Jersey,” said Bob Masters, political director for the Communications Workers of America, which represents that state’s public employees. “We are going to insist that our legal right to bargain over health care can be honored by this governor as it has been by every governor.”

Instead, a spokesman for Christie said the governor planned to stick to his plan to have state employees to pay 30 percent of their health care premiums by requiring it through having the legislature enact a law. Union members currently pay 1.5 percent of their salary for health care coverage. “We and the Senate president are pursuing that area in the same way through legislation,” the spokesman, Michael Drewniak, said.

Christie contends that he does not have to negotiate over increasing health care costs because in the past, the unions, at least in some instances, appealed directly to the Legislature. The last time employees saw an increase in their contributions was in 2007, when Governor Jon Corzine reached an agreement with the union requiring members to pay 1.5 percent of their salary for benefits.

Masters said the governor’s office could not provide an example of the union skipping collective bargaining. A spokesman for the Assembly Majority, Tom Hester said it was the responsibility of Christie’s office to engage in collective bargaining with the union. “This governor spends a lot of time bragging about his ability to shake up government,” Hester said, “so it’s time to him to back his talk and prove his worth at the bargaining table, where health insurance matters have traditionally been decided.”

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As reported by app.com, the union that represents some 35,000 state and local government workers is offering to make changes in New Jersey’s health insurance system that would, as one official promised, save “tens of millions of dollars.” The proposal by the Communication Workers of America came as union leaders and negotiators for Governor Chris Christie’s administration met for the first time.

Paul Alexander, president of the CWA Local 1038, said the package was drawn from reforms being instituted across the United States and from recommendations contained in a report from Harvard University. “It’s a very, very comprehensive plan,” Alexander said. “These are things being done in other areas, but for New Jersey, it may be unique. (Rising health costs) are not just a New Jersey problem, it’s a national problem.”

Alexander and CWA officials declined to detail the proposal. However, a letter sent to members and posted on a CWA website said the offer was an effort at “containing and sharing premium costs.”  The proposal also would expand the use of generic drugs and mail-order prescription services, the union letter said. The proposal would save the State about one-fifth of its premium costs the CWA claimed.

A Christie spokesman declined to comment. Christie, a Republican who frequently criticizes public sector unions, has said in recent weeks that he is looking forward to negotiating over contracts that are set to begin July 1. “It should be an adversarial situation,” Christie said on a televised interview last month. “Somebody should be representing the taxpayers.”

However, with the State facing rising health costs for current workers, a nearly $37 billion long term unfunded liability in the State portion of the pension system and another $56 billion for retiree health costs, Christie is pushing for system-wide changes through legislation. To this end, Christie has called for all state and local workers enrolled in the State’s health benefits plan to pay 30 percent of the premium.

A counter proposal by Democratic State Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney also would require premium payments by employees up to 30 percent, but that would only be for employees making more than $100,000 a year and seven years after their current contract ends.   An employee paid $60,000, close to the state average, would pay 7 percent of the premium at first, rising to 19 percent seven years later. That final figure would work out to $3,610 a year for family coverage in 2017.

Unions, however, want those health coverage changes to be adopted only through negotiation and not through state law, as proposed by Christie and Sweeney. Several hundred retired and current government workers jammed the hallways of the Statehouse as unions tried to meet with lawmakers and urge them not to pass the health care changes. Unions are arguing that the health care proposals amount to an attack on collective bargaining.

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As reported by trentonian.com, New Jersey’s state government unions are up against more than a combative Governor Chris Christie going into contract negotiations. They are up against numbers regarding their salary, which were recently released and could complicate their efforts to rally public opinion to their side.

More than 17,000 union represented state employees have salaries of $75,000 or higher. They account for a record 75 percent of total employees in this pay range, including management and patronage employees. Union represented employees now hold 43 percent of jobs paying $100,000 or more, also a record proportion. These Civil Service figures are as of January 1, 2010.

The two biggest of a dozen state employee unions are the Communications Workers of America, representing about 37,000 employees, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (“AFSCME”), bargaining for about 9,900 state workers. Governor Christie has declared himself ready, even eager, to do some hard-nosed negotiations. He served notice at a recent town meeting that unions should not expect him to join them in “holding hands” around the bargaining table and singing “Kumbaya.”

Union representatives have no such expectations. “We’re aware of the [fiscal] situation and public mood,” said one AFSCME member, not authorized to speak for the union and commenting anonymously. “We’re not looking for a sweetheart contract or expecting one. We’re looking for a fair contract, one that doesn’t shift all the burden onto us.”

CWA says it has made concessions previously, contrary to the impression given by the blustery Christie. These concessions included a deferral of a scheduled raise in 2009, the acceptance of a pay cut in the form of uncompensated furlough days, and an agreement to take on a bigger employee share of pension and medical-coverage costs. 

New Jersey’s contract talks open at a time when states face big annual budget shortfalls and massive unfunded long-term liabilities in promised pension and health benefits. New Jersey liabilities by one official calculation surpass $120 billion, four times the annual state budget. Other calculations set the sum even higher.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a Republican, has positioned himself in the center of America’s public sector labor battle zone. He’s proposing to sharply curtail bargaining parameters, including taking benefits off the table. He also proposed to stop payroll deductions for union dues, forcing the unions to collect their own dues, a potentially crippling blow to them financially. Christie has stopped short of going that far. But, he has drawn the national limelight, alongside Walker, with his union-taunting remarks and stated willingness to go to the mat.

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As reported by trentonian.com, the leader of the state Senate says pension and health care benefits for public safety workers cost an average of $47,000 a year, an ever-increasing amount that will bankrupt local governments unless workers start paying more. Senate President Stephen Sweeney released the figures from the Municipal Managers Association, on the eve of a public safety rally that could draw up to 10,000 off duty police and firefighters to the Statehouse to protest staffing cuts and proposed benefit changes.

Sweeney, a Democrat, has been called out by public safety union leaders who vehemently oppose his proposed health care changes, which are similar to what Republican Governor Chris Christie has proposed. Sweeney and Christie insist they are attempting to keep the pension and health benefits systems solvent, not hurt workers.

The public unions say Christie is breaking a promise not to tinker with their retirement benefits and the most powerful Democrat in the Legislature is going along. The pension and health benefits systems are significantly underfunded. The pension funds for police and firefighters, teachers, judges and state, county, and municipal workers are underfunded by $54 billion. The health care system is underfunded by $67 billion.

Public sector workers now pay 1.5 percent of their salaries toward healthcare. They pay varying percentages of their salaries toward pensions: judges pay 3 percent, teachers put in 5.5 percent, state police 7.5 percent and police and firefighters 8.5 percent.

Sweeney’s proposal would expand the number of available health insurance plans, and it calls for workers to contribute 12 percent to 30 percent of the cost of the premium, depending on their income. The plan would be phased in over seven years for families and four years for single-coverage employees. Those making up to $30,000 a year would be expected to pay up to 12 percent of their premiums at full phase-in, while those making $100,000 or more would be required to contribute 30 percent. Sweeney’s plan shields retirees, but would require future retirees to contribute a fixed amount each year, between $2,280 and $5,700, based on pension level.

Christie wants benefits changes that make the health insurance system more like the private sector or the federal government, with employees paying about one-third of the costs of whatever benefits plan they choose and the government picking up the other two-thirds. Automatic cost-of-living increases would be eliminated.

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As reported by app.com, New Jersey’s credit rating was downgraded by a major Wall Street rating agency, whose concerns over state debt and obligations for public retirees’ benefits now mean higher costs for the state to borrow money. Standard & Poor’s moved New Jersey’s bond rating down a notch to its fourth highest level. The move ignited an immediate partisan skirmish over which party is to blame and upped the pressure for pension and health benefit changes.

“The clock is ticking away on a pension and benefit bomb that can damage the health of the finances of our state,” Governor Chris Christie said at a town-hall meeting in Union City. Democrats said Christie aggravated the situation by not putting any money into the pension fund in the current budget year, when $3 billion was due. This coming year $3.5 billion is due, though a state law says that roughly $500 million will be required.

“Gov. Christie inflicted severe damage last year when he skipped the state’s pension payment,” said Assemblyman Louis Greenwald. “It was reckless and made the problem much worse. It was so short-sighted, in fact, that it wiped out all the benefits from the bipartisan pension reforms ushered into law early last year.” 

Standard & Poor’s said in its report that pension funding “remains the most significant risk to the state’s long-term credit quality.” Christie and fellow Republicans want to increase the retirement age, reduce benefits and boost employees’ contribution to the pension fund. Democratic leaders have a counterproposal that would reduce benefits and give unions input over managing pension investments.

The change is expected to have little immediate impact on state costs, as the state’s financial difficulties have been well documented and taken into account in recent borrowings. One recent bond sale was reduced in size because the rates were not meeting expectations.

Credit ratings for various state agencies dependent on appropriations from the state budget were also lowered by Standard & Poor’s. “We understand that Gov. Chris Christie has recently announced various reform initiatives that, if approved, could help begin to manage the state’s pension liability,” said the report. “We will continue to monitor this, but in our view progress on this front is likely to be gradual and we expect the state’s debt and liability profile to remain weak and continue to be a source of budget pressure.”

Standard & Poor’s said New Jersey’s pension system was 56 percent funded as of last June and that it expects the “pension funding ratio will weaken further as a result of the failure to fund” the required payment this budget year, though solid growth in investment income could offset that. The State’s long-term obligation for health benefits for retirees, which it finances on a year-by-year basis, is estimated at close to $57 billion.

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As reported by nj.com on February 8, 2011, Governor Christie’s plan to drastically change the State’s troubled pension system was introduced by Republican lawmakers on February 7, 2011, but Democrats who control the Legislature indicated they will push their own plan instead.

Assemblymen Declan O’Scanlon and Gary Chiusano sponsored Christie’s proposals in the lower house, while State Senator Joseph Pennacchio said he would introduce them in the upper house. The 139 page bill mirrors ideas Christie first laid out in the fall and would only affect future retirees. “We’re in dire shape and we’re trying to save the system,” said O’Scanlon.

The State’s pension fund faces a $54 billion shortfall, brought on by investment losses, increased benefits, growth in the number of public employees and the State’s decision over the years to repeatedly reduce or skip payments. Last year, Christie skipped a $3.1 billion payment. The proposals would not affect already-retired workers. Among the biggest changes:

·         All public employees would pay 8.5 percent of their wages towards pensions

·         The retirement age would be raised to 65 for most workers. To retire early, employees would need to have accumulated 30 years on the job, rather than 25, and would be docked one-quarter of 1 percent for every month of their age under 65

·         Pensions for most workers would be calculated on a five-year average of their highest salaries, up from three

·         The 9 percent pension bump given to employees 10 years ago would be rolled back for current and future employees

·         Police and firefighter retirees would see their maximum benefit shrink from 70 percent to 65 percent of their salaries

·         Annual cost of living adjustments would be eliminated

Democrats also promoted their own proposal outlined in January. That plan would create joint labor/management boards to administer the system; force employees to pay more if the fund’s fiscal health declines; roll back the pension boost or make employees pay more for it; and eliminate cost of living adjustment for new and recent hires.

“The Senate President has put forward a plan that would blow up the pension system as it currently exists and recreate it so it works and is no longer a political football,” said Chris Donnelly, a spokesman for Senate President Stephen Sweeney. “The Governor’s plan is simply more of the same that got us to where we are now.”

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As reported by nj.com on February 7, 2011, lawmakers in the New Jersey Senate will hear from police and firefighters about how layoffs are impacting public safety.

The Senate Law and Public Safety Committee has invited several speakers to address a recent spike in violent crime. The hearing scheduled for February 7, 2011 will examine how the ongoing fiscal crisis is effecting the ability of cities and towns to maintain public safety. Municipalities around the State have laid off police officers and firefighters to help balance their budgets.

Governor Chris Christie recently met with Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Camden Mayor Dana Redd, and Trenton Mayor Tony Mack to discuss the issue. The Governor says he is looking to maintain a balance between his responsibility to taxpayers and public safety.

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As reported by nj.com on February 4, 2011, the effort to reform the State of New Jersey’s civil service system stalled as Governor Chris Christie conditionally vetoed a bill to overhaul the system and Democratic legislative leaders declared they will not agree to his proposed changes. 

Christie called the Democrats’ bill “tepid, ineffective and meaningless” and said it would not save property taxpayers’ money. “The Legislature has sent me special interest approved ‘reform’ that will do nothing to constrain property taxes,” said Christie in his veto message. “The time for real reform of civil service is overdue.”

The Governor proposed allowing the State’s 193 towns in the Civil Service system, rules that govern the hiring, promotion and firing of employees, to opt out of it through voter referendum. Democrats had balked at this, saying it would open the door to more political cronyism and nepotism. 

Senate President Stephen Sweeney said he was willing to compromise with the Governor after they passed the bill, but Christie “didn’t want to give an inch.” Sweeney said he will not put Christie’s conditional veto up for a vote in the Senate, and will not start from scratch on another civil service reform bill. “I’m not going to beg the governor to try to find reform. We’re equal branches of government,” he said. “This was the first time the governor was not willing to compromise on something. What he’s going to find out is when there’s no compromise, there’s no legislation.”

Changing the State’s Civil Service system is the biggest remaining piece of Christie’s proposed “tool kit” to help towns curtail property taxes. Starting this year, towns face a 2 percent limit on property tax increases. In addition to the 193 towns, most state workers and 20 of the State’s 21 counties are in the Civil Service system.

The Democrats said their bill was “real reform” because it allowed local leaders to move employees between departments and set up a task force to reduce the number of employee titles and give towns more flexibility in assigning work duties. In his veto, Christie struck language about creating the task force on civil service titles, saying it would add an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.

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As reported by app.com on February 1, 2011, two major public safety unions opposed new arbitration caps on the raises that can be given to their members, but union representatives will play a key role in deciding whether those caps, designed to give taxpayers a break from skyrocketing public worker salaries, remain in effect beyond 2014.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney appointed two union officials to the panel that will study the effect of the cap and whether it should remain in effect after 2014. The two are Ronald Bakley of Erial, a retired police officer who is director of the New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police labor council, and William Lavin of Woodbridge, president of the New Jersey Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association. Both individuals have said the arbitration changes signed by Governor Christie in December limiting raises that can be awarded by arbitrators at 2 percent a year were not necessary.

Lavin said he wants to make sure the task force considers his union’s concerns about timeliness, the selection of arbitrators and the accuracy of the depiction of raises being received by public safety employees. “The fair interpretation of those numbers is critical to us,” Lavin said. Bakley said he is not concerned about specifically what the panel, which has not yet organized, intends to accomplish. He said the law will get arbitrators to decide cases faster, because their pay is capped at $7,500 and they $1,000 per day fines if they take more than 45 days. But he predicted other impacts of the law would not be as drastic because it keeps conventional arbitration on the books.

The Police and Fire Public Interest Arbitration Impact Task Force was established as part of the arbitration reform. It is to study the impact of the award cap on property taxes, union contracts, municipal services, and expenses and changes in crime rates, response time and police and fire staffing. The task force will consist of eight members. The four being appointed by Governor Christie and the two being named by Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver have not yet been identified.

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As reported by nj.com on January 13, 2011, Governor Chris Christie proposed significantly higher health insurance premiums for hundreds of thousands of public workers in New Jersey, saying overly generous benefits are threatening to bankrupt the system.

Christie told a town hall audience in Bergen County that state and local workers, teachers, police, and firefighters must begin paying more for their medical and dental benefits if the system is to remain afloat. The health benefits fund is $67 billion shy of meeting its eventual obligations.

Christie wants benefits changes that make the health insurance system more like the private sector or the federal government, with employees paying about one-third of the costs of whatever benefits plan they choose. The government picks up the other two-thirds. That would amount to a significant increase from the 1.5 percent of salary employees now pay. A teacher earning $60,000 now pays $900 a year toward a plan that costs $22,000, Christie said. Under his new proposal, that teacher would contribute $7,333 a year for an identical plan. The changes also could result in inferior benefits, as some workers would be forced to accept plans with higher deductibles and co-pays or limited choice of doctors, to keep down costs.

Christie said health benefits for current workers and retirees cost New Jersey taxpayers $4.3 billion a year and growing. He said the State cannot afford to have worker benefits eating a larger and larger portion of state, local and school budgets. The Governor also renewed his call for changes to the pension system which include: raising the retirement age to 65, from 62, rolling back a 9 percent pension increase granted a decade ago and requiring all workers to contribute 8.5 percent of their salaries toward retirement, a higher portion than all but police and firefighters pay now. He said adopting major changes to the pension system this year would cut the funds’ $34 billion unfunded liability in half in 30 years.

As one can see, Governor Christie’s looming healthcare proposals will have a significant impact on New Jersey public safety employees going forward. The contributions that members currently pay could become significantly higher, while the level of benefits they currently receive could drastically decrease. Please continue to check this blog periodically to ascertain updates regarding the impending proposals.   

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As reported by various media outlets, Governor Chris Christie announced a 33-bill legislative package on May 10, 2010 that plans to place stricter limits on property tax increases and a put a permanent 2.5 percent limit on annual raises for public workers.

Christie also discussed several potential reforms, including raising the retirement age to 65 from 62; having public employees pay more toward their pensions and allowing towns to discard some civil service rules.

Union leaders have criticized many of the proposals, doubting that they will save much money. They also fear that allowing towns to opt-out of civil service will open the system to more hiring decisions based on patronage.

The proposed legislation includes: (1) a constitutional 2.5 percent cap on the annual increases in municipal, school, and county property tax levies; (2) a 2.5 percent limit on the annual increases of public employee contracts, including wages, health benefits, vacation time, and other perks; (3) limiting the amount of unused sick time that current employees can cash out at $15,000; and (4) allowing towns to opt-out of the civil service system through an ordinance or a petition by 15 percent of the voters.

These new legislative proposals have the potential to impact every public employee in the State of New Jersey. Specifically, the proposal regarding the 2.5 percent limit on the annual increases of public employee contracts, which would affect all public employees, seems to usurp the purpose behind the collective bargaining process and the concept of organized labor. As such, this legislation must be followed closely by all New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Please continue to check this blog periodically to ascertain updates regarding this legislation and its ultimate progression.

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As reported in the Trentonian on March 12, 2010, Governor Chris Christie is looking privatize State jobs. Yesterday, Governor Christie created a task force to look at ways to privatize State jobs to save money as he tries to find a plug for a projected $11 billion budget deficit for the 2011 fiscal year.

Christie signed an executive order creating the five-person group to look at “every aspect of the way government does business.” He said privatization could narrow the scope of public services provided by the State’s nearly 75,000 workers and increase efficiency. Christie also stated that he would have ordered the audit even if New Jersey was not in dire economic need. Privatizing jobs would inevitably mean layoffs for State workers, but Christie said he had not asked the task force to come back with a specific level of savings.     

The creation of the task force comes just days after the new Republican Governor said he was wrong to think he could alter a deal Governor Corzine made with State workers that allowed them to keep pay raises and take furloughs in exchange for a no-layoff pledge. Democrats estimate that for every 1,000 workers laid off, the State would realize $30 million to $40 million in savings. However, according to Bob Master, spokesman for the Communications Workers of America District 1, privatization is a “failed tactic from the past that’s based on an ideological hostility to government.” Specifically, he indicated, “you get a real deterioration of services and you don’t save any money.” 

Governor Christie’s potential privatization could have an enormous impact upon New Jersey Public Safety Officers. As such, please continue to check this blog periodically to ascertain updates regarding privatization and the workers it will affect.

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