Phil Murphy for Governor - NJ's Pension Obligations Must Be Honored

[JustAnotherGen]

http://politickernj.com/2016/08/guv-candidate-phil-murphy-weighs-in-on-pensions/

Murphy’s tweet read: “NJ’s pension obligations must be honored. My position on amendment is same as it was in 2005: Yes. Needed now even more than before.”

PolitickerNJ also reached out to Murphy spokesman Derek Roseman about Murphy’s position. Roseman said: “Phil supports both the proposed amendment and its immediate passage. He has been consistent since he chaired the first task force on pensions in 2005 that the state must honor its obligations and be held constitutionally responsible to do so.”

While Murphy is the only Democratic candidate to formally announce his gubernatorial run thus far, his stance on pensions puts him at odds with Sweeney, another likely candidate in the Democratic primary for governor. Sweeney has said that, because the state is currently funding pensions and because of the uncertainty with the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF), the pension amendment can wait until next year. Both the NJEA and FOP fired back at Sweeney for his reversal claiming that they would withhold campaign contributions until the pension amendment was posted for a vote. Sweeney then called on U.S Attorney Paul J. Fishman and N.J. Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino to investigate the NJEA and FOP for those claims.

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop–another possible 2017 candidate–also issued a statement on Wednesday about the ordeal.

Read more at Guv Candidate Phil Murphy Weighs in on Pensions | New Jersey News, Politics, Opinion, and Analysis
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[TexasTowelie]

1. State employees are not second class citizens.

If the employees are having money withheld from their paychecks to fund their retirements, then they deserve to know that the retirement benefits they have earned are secure. Letting pension systems remain with unfunded liabilities is a disservice to not only future retirees, but to the taxpayers as well since they are impacted by additional interest payments on bonds due to the lower credit ratings assigned by credit ratings agencies.

State employees frequently make sacrifices as salaried workers because they are FLSA exempt and receive lower salaries than their contemporaries that work in the private sector. If the taxpayers want the best service from state employees then they should realize that they need to adequately fund the salaries and the fringe benefits that those employees receive.

[JustAnotherGen]

2. Cross fingers this sinks Sweeney's 'not yet announced' campaign

http://www.njpp.org/budget/new-jersey-has-modest-public-pension-benefits

Here’s how New Jersey gets its low ranking for overall generosity:

• New Jersey retirees have no automatic protection against inflation. While 69 of the 100 largest plans offer retirees some inflation protection, cost-of-living adjustments for New Jersey retirees were suspended indefinitely by the 2011 legislative pension reforms.

• New Jersey uses a very low multiplier. The percentage by which New Jersey calculates state pensions per year of service – known as the multiplier – is among the lowest nationally, at 1.67 percent. This means pensions benefits equal 1.67 percent of final salary multiplied by the number of years of service; 1.67 percent is a lower multiplier than all but 21 of the 100 plans. New Jersey lowered the multiplier from 1.81 percent in 2011.

• New Jersey employees pay more into the system than those in most other systems. New Jersey public employees contribute 6.93 percent of their salaries to their own pensions, more than 55 other plans in the top 100. By 2018, the employee contribution level for New Jersey pensions will rise to 7.5 percent, which is more than employees contribute today in about two-thirds of the top 100 plans.

In addition to being some of the least generous pensions in the country, New Jersey’s pensions are modest in dollar amounts, even though the Garden State remains one of the highest-cost states in which to live.

Pension benefits in New Jersey average $26,000. State employees receive $25,000 on average and local government employees about $16,000. Teacher pensions average $40,000.[1] While police and fire personnel receive higher average benefits, their benefits are inflated by comparison with other groups (both public and private) because New Jersey police and fire retirees do not receive Social Security. Correcting for this brings safety personnel average benefits down to $41,402.