Stuff in the ‘Pension and Benefit Crisis’ Category
Senate Pension Reform Bill Makes Some Necessary Changes but Needs More
Posted On10/14/2020 byTony Howley of Americans for Prosperity NJ penned an op-ed in the Star-Ledger supporting Senate President Sweeney’s S-861 bill based on his Path to Progress pension reform recommendations. These are sensible and necessary reforms that protect existing pensions but try to put NJ on a more sustainable path. The path we are currently on is not sustainable….Read More
Pew Charitable Trust Pension Update: NJ Is Dead Last Among the States
Posted On10/08/2020 byThis isn’t new news but it’s also not good news. Pew Charitable Trusts updated its pension study to include 2018 data, and NJ comes in dead last among the 50 states. NJ only has 38 cents set aside for each dollar it owes. That means that 62 cents of every dollar owed is an unfunded…Read More
Gov. Murphy: “Labor is at the table in New Jersey unlike any other state in America, and that will always continue to be the case.”
Posted On10/06/2020 byWell, there you have it from an excellent report by NJ101.5: a perfect, one-sentence description of NJ’s political status quo, delivered by our state’s top elected officer. Gov. Murphy was elected with the strenuous support of the public sector unions – a.k.a, our most powerful special interests – and continues to work hand-in-hand with them…Read More
COVID Hits NJ Pensions: Investments Earn 1.2%, Teachers’ Pension Funding Likely Down to 25%
Posted On10/01/2020 byThe Star-Ledger reported that NJ’s pension investments earned 1.2% for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020. This is far below the 7.5% assumed return and given that NJ pensions are cash-flow negative, it is highly likely that assets had to be used to pay out pension benefits. It is also highly likely that as…Read More
NJ Debt Worst in America (Again), but Gov. Murphy Is Borrowing $4.5 billion More
Posted On09/23/2020 byTruth in Accounting came out with its “Financial State of the States 2020,” an annual report on how much debt-per-taxpayer each state owes. New Jersey once again ranked DEAD LAST in the nation for the SEVENTH STRAIGHT YEAR. Each NJ taxpayer owes a jaw-dropping $57,900 – which is $5,900 more than broke Illinois, the state…Read More
NJ to Borrow $4.5 billion to Make $4.7 billion Pension Payment: NJ Taxpayers on the Hook
Posted On09/22/2020 byAccording to the Star-Ledger, New Jersey’s FY2021 budget will borrow $4.5 billion in bonds. That’s more than 10% of the entire budget. Where is NJ going to get the money to plug the budget gap next year? I guess we should hope that economy does really well – despite the additional taxes on millionaires, corporations…Read More
Gov. Murphy, Using Bonds to Pay Down Pension Debt Is Essentially Another POB Deal
Posted On09/15/2020 byJon Reitmeyer of NJSpotlight writes that State Treasury officials support the idea of issuing $4 billion in bonds so the State can make a $4.9 billion pension contribution ($4.2 billion of which is making up for past pension underfunding). The idea is apparently that the State can borrow at 2% (at an annual cost of…Read More
NJBIA’s Siekerka Is on Target: Gov. Murphy’s $4.9 billion for Pensions Is Throwing Good Money after Bad
Posted On09/04/2020 byNew Jersey Business and Industry Association (NJBIA) president Michelle Siekerka penned an op-ed in NJ Spotlight today that made several excellent points. Among them: Cut the fiscal year 2021 public employee pension contribution: “we should remind ourselves that whatever dollar figure is settled on will still go toward a broken and unsustainable system, which will…Read More
The NJEA Hits the Trifecta with Murphy’s Budget; the Rest of NJ, Not So Much
Posted On08/26/2020 byGovernor Murphy presented a nine-month FY2021 budget yesterday that props up state government spending by issuing bonds and raising taxes. As analyzed by NJ Spotlight’s Jon Reitmeyer, there is virtually no state government belt-tightening: state spending will “still top $40 billion for a traditional 12-month fiscal year … even as he is projecting steep revenue…Read More
Murphy Wins at Supreme Court but NJ’s Future Generations Lose
Posted On08/14/2020 byCongratulations, Governor Murphy. Unsurprisingly, the NJ Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that you get to borrow up to $9.9 billion to cover budget gaps due to shortfalls and costs related to COVID19. This is good news for NJ’s most powerful special interests, the public sector unions, who are Murphy’s political supporters. Unfortunately, this is bad news…Read More