By Matt Rooney
New Jersey lawmakers love to lecture taxpayers about “shared sacrifice” — unless, apparently, the rules apply to one of their own political appointees, Save Jerseyans.
That’s the unavoidable conclusion after the state Assembly voted Monday to advance legislation allowing acting State Police Superintendent Jeanne Hengemuhle to collect both a six-figure public pension and a six-figure taxpayer-funded salary at the same time.
Under the bill, Hengemuhle, a retired lieutenant colonel, would be permitted to officially serve as superintendent, wear the State Police uniform, and continue receiving her nearly $133,000 annual pension while also earning roughly $210,000 as superintendent.
In the private sector, this would be called double-dipping. In Trenton, they call it “clarification.”
The argument from supporters is almost laughably thin.
State Troopers Fraternal Association President Wayne Blanchard said New Jersey needs a superintendent in uniform because “the world” is coming to the state for upcoming major events. But nobody has explained why wearing a uniform requires collecting two taxpayer-funded checks simultaneously. The issue is not whether Hengemuhle is qualified. She very well may be. I don’t care whether she wears a uniform or not (nor do I think it matters, respectfully, to any World Cup tourists). The issue is whether ordinary New Jerseyans are expected to follow one set of retirement rules while politically connected insiders get another.
Assemblyman Brian Bergen got it exactly right during floor debate when he said, “[r]etirement is you’re done. If you come back, you’re not retired anymore, and you shouldn’t get a pension.”
That principle is obvious to anyone outside the Trenton bubble.
For decades, New Jersey taxpayers have been warned that the state pension system is under severe strain, public benefits are increasingly costly, and fiscal discipline matters. Yet when the power elite want to make an exception to benefit one of their own, our situationally flexible lawmakers suddenly discover a loophole large enough to drive a State Police cruiser through.
Even worse, the Legislature is not merely tolerating the arrangement — it is actively rewriting state law to accommodate it. That’s what makes the situation look so corrupt. This is not an accidental consequence of existing policy. It is a tailor-made legislative fix benefiting a specific appointee.
If an ordinary retired state employee attempted something similar, the state would normatively suspend pension payments upon reemployment. But in Trenton, status matters more than consistency.
The public should also remember that pensions are supposed to support retirees after they leave public service. They were never intended to become bonus income layered on top of another massive government paycheck.
At a time when New Jersey residents face crushing property taxes, rising utility bills, and relentless government spending, lawmakers should be protecting taxpayers — not creating special carveouts for insiders.
The Assembly’s vote sends a damaging message: in New Jersey government, retirement – and the fixed income reality which accompanies it – is only retirement for the little people.
