Stuff in the ‘Pension and Benefit Crisis’ Category
Federal Money Shores Up NJ’s Budget, But Gov. Murphy Opts for Election-Year Spending Rather than a Sustainable Path
Posted OnJuly 21, 2021 byThe gusher of federal money has certainly been a boon to New Jersey as well as other states. This has had a number of positive ramifications, most importantly filling state coffers so that even perpetually in-deficit state governments like NJ’s are now running budgetary surpluses. This has allowed NJ to increase spending (in an election…Read More
Contra NJ Spotlight, NJ Public Pensions Are Still in Trouble and Need Reform
Posted OnJuly 8, 2021 byA surprising puff piece on NJ pensions from NJ Spotlight’s John Reitmeyer, who is usually a very good, fair reporter. Yes, it’s true that NJ is making a record payment into its woefully underfunded public pensions, and, yes, it’s true that stellar investment returns boosted pension assets to $90.6 billion (from $84.9 billion as of…Read More
Tax Foundation: NJ Pensions Are the Worst Funded in the Nation. Why Is Gov. Murphy Pouring in Billions of Good Money After Bad?
Posted OnJune 7, 2021 byJust as Politico is reporting that Gov. Murphy is considering making a payment even larger than last year’s $6.4 billion (14% of the entire state budget) into NJ’s broken public pension system, the Tax Foundation came out with a report that underscored how Murphy is throwing billions of good money after bad. The report determined that…Read More
Star-Ledger Publishes Sunlight Op-Ed: Teachers Need To Be Told the Truth About Their Pensions
Posted OnMay 5, 2021 byN.J. teachers need to be told the truth: Their pensions are in jeopardy | Opinion Today 9:37 AM as of June 30, 2020, New Jersey had less than 25 cents set aside for every dollar it owed for teachers’ pensions. With such a low funded-level, Brookings makes clear that this amounts to throwing billions of…Read More
State Pension Report: TPAF Assets Down, Liabilities Up, Funded Ratio at 24.6%
Posted OnApril 19, 2021 byMore bad news on the Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF), New Jersey’s largest public pension fund currently covering 262,000 active and retired teachers. Last week, we wrote about the Brookings Institute report that both confirmed that TPAF was the worst public pension plan in America and projected that it would become insolvent in the…Read More
New Brookings Report: NJ Teachers’ Pension Fund on Path to “Near-Term” Insolvency
Posted OnApril 14, 2021 byIn the wonky world of pensions, a new report by the Brookings Institution made some news because of its rather optimistic take on the fate of America’s public pensions. The authors argue that due to recent reforms, in the long run, most plans are sustainable with relatively modest adjustments. Except for New Jersey’s Teachers’ Pension and…Read More
Senate President Sweeney Regrets Borrowing $4.3 Billion in Very Expensive Bonds
Posted OnMarch 26, 2021 byIt’s the rare occasion when a New Jersey politician is honest with the public, so kudos to Senate President Steve Sweeney for telling it straight. NorthJersey.com reports that Sweeney now regrets the 2020 issuance of $4.3 billion in bonds in expectation of COVID-related revenue shortfalls. And rightfully so. Even though the $4.3 billion in bonds…Read More
Kudos to the Record’s Charlie Stile: Borrowing $4.3 Billion to Make a $6.4 Billion Pension Payment is POBs All Over Again.
Posted OnFebruary 25, 2021 byThe Record’s Charlie Stile is one of the very few people in NJ who recognize that Gov. Murphy is effectively reprising the disastrous 1997 Pension Obligation Bonds (POBs) of Gov. Whitman. The $2.75 billion in POBs will ultimately cost NJ more than $10 billion. That’s the reason the legislature subsequently banned POBs. Per Stile: “Yet, Murphy’s rescue…Read More
Rather Than Borrow Money and Invest in Risky Assets to Juice Returns, NJ Should Reform Its Public Pension System
Posted OnJanuary 22, 2021 byWe’re going to get a little wonkish here and delve into the mechanics of pensions because NJ’s public pensions are a disaster waiting to happen. At 38%, they are the worst funded public pensions in the nation. Absent a federal bailout, NJ is going to hit a budgetary wall in the relatively near future. In…Read More
NJEA Claims Sunlight’s Pension Report Has “Many Inaccuracies.” Our Response: Name One.
Posted OnDecember 15, 2020 byThe NJEA responded to an NJTV piece (go to minute 19:00) on Sunlight’s recent report on teachers’ pensions by claiming it had “many inaccuracies.” Sunlight asks the NJEA to name one. The NJEA will not be able to because Sunlight’s report is factual, with all data and assertions sourced and footnoted. The NJEA also claims…Read More