Pension Crisis

As reported by JT Aregood from the New Jersey Observer, just months after Senate President Steve Sweeney declined to post a bill that would have effected the change with a voter-approved constitutional amendment, Democratic lawmakers in New Jersey passed a plan to require the state to make payments into its underfunded public pension system

On Strike

As reported by the New Jersey Law Journal, Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Nov. 14 vetoed legislation that would have broadened the ability of striking workers to collect unemployment benefits while they were off the job.

In his veto message to S2160, Christie said it was bad enough that the state’s current

Healthcare-Icon

As reported by NJ.com, the New Jersey Education Association (“NJEA”) and Governor Chris Christie’s administration agreed to hold an information-only meeting on proposed changes to retiree healthcare.  The administration took the teacher’s union to court to compel members who sit on the School Employees’ Health Benefits Commission to attend commission meetings.  They have boycotted

Healthcare-Icon

As reported by NJ.com, a Superior Court judge is expected to decide whether to order members of the State’s teachers’ union in a dispute with Governor Chris Christie’s administration to give up its boycott of meetings setting health care benefits for public employees.  The administration took members of the New Jersey Education Association who

As reported by nj.com, the State Investment Council on Wednesday agreed to slash New Jersey’s investments of public-sector pension dollars in hedge funds by more than half, responding to labor union concerns that the alternative investments are not paying off.

At the council’s last meeting in May, union representatives called for drastic reduction in

Pension Crisis

On Tuesday, various state officials gathered just a few blocks from the Democratic National Convention to discuss the pension problems being faced by states across the country. Among the panelists was New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester). Read about some of the interesting solutions proposed at: http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/16/07/26/how-can-new-jersey-other-states-rescue-underfunded-pension-systems/

 

Healthcare Icon (2)

While Chapter 78 increased the average healthcare contributions required of public employees based upon a sliding percentage of the cost of coverage, if Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon’s proposal is implemented, public workers can expect to pay higher out-of-pocket costs toward coverage provided under a lower-level plan. In exchange, the Assemblyman’s plan provides for a constitutional

As reported by NJ.com, Moody’s Investors Service again sent up a warning flare that a possible New Jersey Supreme Court ruling striking down cuts to public retirees’ pension benefits would soak the struggling retirement system with new pension liabilities.  But in its latest report released on the “extraordinary decisions and challenges” the Garden State