The Star-Ledger’s Paul Mulshine hit the nail on the head with his piece on Governor Murphy’s annual State of the State address.  Murphy took a shot at “entrenched special interests,” but Mulshine rightly pointed out:

“But the most deeply entrenched special interests in Trenton are the public-employee unions. Murphy’s their best buddy, so he rarely if ever mentions the need to rein in the pensions and benefits obligations the state has accrued.”

He quotes Assemblyman Steve Oroho, who correctly notes that when it comes to NJ’s worst-in-the-nation pension funding, Murphy has “done nothing to really fix the underlying cost structure of New Jersey, all the debt and the unpaid obligations,” said Oroho. “Until you do that, it’s all puffery.”

Mulshine notes that Oroho has teamed with Senate President Steve Sweeney to craft a plan of pension and benefit reforms that would finally address our long-term problems, but Murphy is not interested. Mulshine concludes: “the governor seems more intent on burnishing his reputation with the unions that make up a core constituency of the national Democratic Party.”

Sad but true.  Well said, Paul Mulshine!

Read the full Star-Ledger op-ed here.