For Gov. Chris Christie, the timing couldn’t be worse. One day before he presents his new state budget, a judge has ruled that instead of cutting more than a billion and a half dollars from the state pension system, he has to pay it — all of it, by June 30. CWA NJ State Director Hetty Rosenstein told NJTV News Chief Political Correspondent Michael Aron that the organization is happy with the judge’s decision.
“We’re pretty happy about what the judge has decided,” said Rosenstein. “You can’t read the law, the pension benefit law and think that you don’t have to make those payments. And so we’re very glad that the judge has said that the governor must make the payments.”
Following the ruling, the governor will have to make a five-sevenths payment in the next fiscal year, nearly $3 billion. At the State House, there was some talk that the governor was going to do that anyway, but Rosenstein said that she finds that hard to imagine. She said that during last month’s State of the State address, Christie had attacked the pension plan.
Rosenstein said that Christie doesn’t have to make any cuts to make the payments into the pension plan because the Legislature had put the revenues in. She said that Christie took those revenues out and cut pension payments.
On whether Christie would have to sign the millionaires tax bill, Rosenstein said that the judge was very clear and that the governor has plenty of time to figure out a solution.
“You don’t have to have it be a millionaires tax. It has to be some kind of revenue,” said Rosenstein. “The fact of the matter is the money was in the budget. He took the money out and cut the pension and repudiated the law that he signed himself.”
Rosenstein said the decision could effect teachers, state workers, state troopers, correction officers and judges.
Whether the state Supreme Court would take the case, Rosenstein said that she doesn’t know.
“I really don’t know. I don’t know what they’ll do but the judge’s decision gives me the hope that the pension plan will be saved,” she said.