By Michael Aron
Chief Political Correspondent
“Times are tough in Atlantic City, but the special interests in Trenton would make it worse by building casinos in North Jersey. We need leaders who put South Jersey first…”
This ad for Democrats looks like it’s about casinos, but the Super PAC that produced it is really more interested in pensions.
General Majority political action committee is a Washington D.C. organization headed by Susan McCue, a former chief of staff to U.S. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and a Rutgers University governing board member.
Behind General Majority PAC are large contributions from the New Jersey Education Association, the state teachers union.
“The voting history has been such that Democrats have supported, not only the funding of our members’ pensions, but smart things like making those payments to the pension fund on a quarterly basis rather than all at the end of the year and other measures like that,” said NJEA Executive Director, Ed Richardson.
The NJEA, through its Super PAC Garden State Forward, has given $2.75 million to General Majority PAC, which has spent $2 million on Democrats in next week’s Assembly election.
“We’ve been the ones talking about the NJEA. We actually have been fighting their fight because they put in their work, what was promised to them. We want to make sure at the end of the day that that’s fulfilled,” said Assembly speaker Vincent Prieto.
The pension system for public workers is underfunded by $40 or $80 billion depending on how you count. A bi-partisan pension and benefits reform law in 2011 was supposed to solve the problem, but the state didn’t have the revenue to keep its end of the bargain. Governor Christie barnstormed the state this past spring when he argued for more cutbacks in worker benefits.
“You cannot pay what you do not have. You simply can’t do it. And it doesn’t get to the core problem though. The core problem is this stuff is too expensive,” Christie said.
A study commission Christie appointed recommended a drastic overhaul.
“The work that the pension and benefits review commission has done is probably the most thorough and comprehensive and honest work done on state pensions and public pensions in the country ever,” said Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon.
“The commission basically came out with a set of recommendations to essentially require our members to fund the state’s share of its pension responsibility by cutting the health insurance to our members,” said Richardson.
Democrats say elect them next Tuesday and they’ll fight to keep the current pension system alive for state and local workers: cops, firefighters and teachers.
“In 2011 we said ‘let’s reform it, you have to pay more into it, but we’re going to make our payments.’ We did not do that. We had one really bad year, and then suddenly the wheels came off and we’re not doing what we supposed to do,” Prieto said.
Republicans say the pension system is headed for bankruptcy and only another round of reform and cutbacks will keep it solvent.
“If you went to a doctor, you had a terminal illness, you wouldn’t rather go to a doctor who just says ‘feel good today? Don’t worry about it. We’ll deal with it later.’ That’s essentially what public workers are doing when they are throwing their support to people who are ignoring this problem,” O’Scalon said.
Democrats spent $4.9 million on the election as of the last filing deadline. Republicans spent 1.6 million, not counting Super PACS.
State Democrats would bolster pensions by hiking taxes on millionaires and corporations. To Republicans that path is anathema. So, the pension issue is stuck here in Trenton, and next Tuesday’s Assembly election isn’t likely to un-stick it.