From the New Jersey State Police Benevolent Association website today: Governor Christie’s Pension Giveaway Weakens Pension Fund The President of the New Jersey State PBA today criticized Governor Christie for intentionally undermining the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (PFRS) by using excess pension funds yielded from Chapter 78 pension changes as a giveaway to local governments for the third consecutive year. “While the Governor continues to campaign that the State pension system is “unsustainable” and in need of reform, he himself is intentionally weakening the PFRS by waving an additional $50 million in local government’s pension obligations,” State PBA President Anthony Wieners said following the release of the PFRS Actuary Report. “In doing so he is continuing the same fiscal mismanagement and sleazy games that underfunded the pension fund for over a decade and that led to the situation we are in today.” Since the passage of the pension reform law known as Chapter 78, the Governor has relieved local governments of more than $400 million in payments into the pension fund. The effect of the pension payment deferral removes money from the fund that could be used to pay off unfunded liabilities in the system or to invest to enhance the fund balance. The move takes PFRS member contributions and reduced retiree benefits and hands the funds over to local government for any municipal purpose. “This giveaway to local governments disguised as “property tax relief” was generated from funds taken out of the pockets of retired and active law enforcement officers who saw their pension contributions rise, their COLA’s eliminated and their benefits cut,” Wieners continued. “The State PBA is sick of politicians who use our pensions as a slush fund and then complain that our benefits are no longer affordable.” The State PBA today also called for the Senate and Assembly Leadership to review the deferral of these pension obligations as outside of the intent of Chapter 78. “If the purpose of Chapter 78 was to “rescue” the pension system, then the latest kickback to local government only reinforces the belief of many law enforcement officers that the Governor is interested only in his political future and not about the future of the brave men and women who wear a uniform to protect the public every day,” Wieners concluded.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 01:19:11 +0000
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