Trenton is working overtime to wash away the remnants for the Christie-Sweeney era pension, benefits and propert tax reforms, Save Jerseyans.
Back in June 2016, the New Jersey Supreme Court shot down a challenge to Christie’s 2011 law responsible for freezing automatic cost-of-living (COLA) adjustments for presently retired and future retired state employees. The law and subsequent ruling impacted hundreds of thousands of individuals in the system.
Nearly six years later, legislation (S260/A2758) has been introduced to reinstate the COLA increases. 13 Republicans are on board with the idea which would impact the Teachers Pension and Annuity Fund, Judicial Retirement System, Public Employees Retirement System, Police and Firemen s Retirement System, and State Police Retirement System.
The bill boasts seven GOP co-sponsors in the Assembly:
- Ronald S. Dancer
- Claire S. Swift
- Robert D. Clifton
- Sean T. Kean
- DeAnne C. DeFuccio
- John Catalano
- Gregory P. McGuckin
And another six in the Senate:
- Vince Polistina
- Anthony M. Bucco
- Samuel D. Thompson
- Jon M. Bramnick
- James W. Holzapfel
- Robert W. Singer
Rampant inflation is clearly part of the sell.
“Without the annual adjustment, retirees and beneficiaries will gradually see significant reductions in their purchasing power,” the bill’s statement explains. “The loss of COLAs will impact their everyday lives, and, over time, make it harder to afford more necessary elements of living, such as out-of-pocket medical costs, groceries, and utility bills. Retirees and beneficiaries will find it more prudent, or perhaps necessary, to leave this State for other states with a comparably lower cost of living.”
Of course, this money isn’t growing on a tree or being donated by Phil Murphy from his personal funds. You and I – who are also grappling with high taxes and runaway inflation – will need to help pay for these increases.
According to a State House source, here are the official cost estimate…
Total debt increase: $33 billion
Annual pension payment increase: $1.5 billion
Annual local payment increase: $1.2 billion (a major property tax driver)
New Jersey’s troubled pension system is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s most poorly positioned. It’s hard to see how this bill will improve that situation. In fact, it’s guaranteed to hurt the people it’s pretending to help by further destabilizing the pension system.
The only way to pay for this proposal is to raise taxes, folks. I’d like to hear the sponsors (and especially the GOP sponsors) explain how they plan to get around that!
