NJTV News Chief Political Correspondent Michael Aron spoke with Sens. Tom Kean and Jim Whelan about Gov. Christie’s State of the State address.

Aron: What struck you in the speech today?

Kean: I think the governor was very strong on the challenges that are ahead, the irresponsible policy decisions that have led to this point, but also the successes that we have had. Finally, the real issue is education, mental health issues, addiction services, all of these things are tied together and impact families every day. I think the speech was very, very well delivered and well-received by the people of New Jersey.

Aron: What struck you Sen. Whelan?

Whelan: We know the governor can deliver a good speech. He’s a skilled politician and very effective communicator. There were parts that I liked, certainly the aspect of drug addiction as a mental illness. It’s something I think is a message for the entire country, frankly, and some of the speech was clearly aimed at the entire country. There were some things, and Sen. Kean alluded to it, going back 15 years ago when we didn’t do this right, or didn’t do that right and part of that of course is the pension discussion for all the rhetoric of how bad the constitutional amendment, from his perspective, is that we still owe that money. The Supreme Court decision that came down said you don’t have to pay it in a given year, but you still have the debt.

Aron: Let me get Sen. Kean on the pension. The governor was very tough on the pension in saying that the money isn’t there. What do you say?

Kean: Well he said we shouldn’t prioritize that money over every other citizen in the state of New Jersey, every other person in the state of New Jersey and not prioritize pension funding over natural disaster response and environmental protection, all of those issues, the teacher payments, all of those things should not be second place compared to a pension payment. That’s what he said. What he’s saying is there’s a responsible way and the Senate Republicans have laid out a responsible seven-year plan to fund these pensions, to meet a number of obligations like the Transportation Trust Fund, that’s affordable for the taxpayers of New Jersey. So, the governor is simply saying that shouldn’t be put in the constitution to prioritize over every other facet of state spending, that is fiscally irresponsible.

Aron: There’s a constitutional amendment that you Democrats approved just yesterday that would do just that. Why do you support it?

Whelan: Sen. Kean is right, but we had a seven-year, responsible program and the second year the governor kicked it to the side, so we can put another plan in place for seven years, or five years, and adopt some of the recommendations of the pension commission and a future governor can just come along and disregard what’s there. So, the only way to make sure that that doesn’t grow, because that’s what happens, that continues to grow and grow and grow, is to say you have to pay it, and you have to pay it on time.

Aron: This is a constitutional amendment that goes on the ballot. Do you think the public would support bolstering the pension system?

Whelan: When you’re not bolstering the pension system all you’re doing is paying the debt that you’ve already accumulated. My hope is that when you explain that to voters that you understand that deferring it doesn’t make it go away.

Aron: What do you think the public would do?

Kean: I think the public would reject it as did every Republican in the state Legislature yesterday. Republicans realized that it wouldn’t be responsible with how we spend money and there’s a way to make these payments in a responsible fashion. They should not be in the constitution and put ahead of everything from homeland security to child safety, so what we need to focus on first and foremost is a responsible plan and this governor and both sides to put more pension dollars in than any governor in the history of the state of New Jersey. We should focus on not only making these pension payments, but also the addiction services, the education reforms as well as mental health reforms that the governor laid out today.