Pension Obligations: Back into the Political Sandbox

Members of Somerset County's education association in Somerville.

Today, the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey decisively ruled (5-2) that it will not interfere with what are the constitutional responsibilities of the New Jersey Legislative and Executive branches concerning the much contested and underfunded pensions of public employees.

Although a lower court had previously ruled in favor of the New Jersey Education Association and its members to enforce a pension payment shortfall of $1.57 billion to be included in next year’s state budget, the Supreme Court reversed that decision upon direct appeal by the Christie administration.

In a 144-page opinion released this morning, N.J.’s highest court ruled “That the State must get its financial house in order . . . and that “the need (to do this) is compelling in respect of the State’s ability to honor its compensation commitment to retired employees.”

According to a Headline on Yesterday’s Front Page Star-Ledger . . .

. . . “Christie’s GOP star dulled by aid vote.” 

Apparently the editor either does not appreciate or overlooks the fact that, in the natural world, a star derives its bright light from its own internal source of energy – not extraneously.  So it is with Governor Christie.

In a TV interview aired on January 2, Governor Christie responds
to the failure of the U.S. House of Representives to vote for the
full amount of a bill which would have provided funds for
Hurricane Sandy related recovery efforts.  (Screenshot:/Bergeron Image)

 

The newspaper story hypothesizes that Governor Christie may have had his “star dulled,” as a result of the forceful manner by which he stood up to the U.S. House of Representatives – in particular, GOP Speaker John Boehner, who   
procrastinated on a vote for the full $60.4 billion sought for disaster relief and recovery in the tri-state area.

A gaggle of ungrateful GOP congressmen from the Midwest also got their noses slightly out of alignment, citing – by their own definition – so-called ‘conservative’ principles:

Christie for Guv’

When a true-blue state like New Jersey gives its GOP governor Chris Christie a 67% favorability rating, it should come as no surprise that he recently decided to announce his bid for re-election to a second term.
 
Indeed, it is wholly consistent with Christie’s prior statements about his desire to remain here in The Garden State, and to see through as many of his priorities and goals as he can possibly implement. 
 
Earlier this year, despite all of the media attention about the possibility of his angling for the VP spot on the national presidential GOP ticket, Christie steadily refuted all claims to that effect
 
He was completely adamant and sincere about his statements that he is a Jersey Boy, that he loved his job and his state, and that he wanted to stay on the job right here.  I liked that attitude and still do.

Christie’s Proposed new Budget Funnels Increased School Aid into Bridgewater-Raritan School District

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, shown being interviewed
in a one-hour feature this week by Piers Morgan.
(TV Screenshot by Dick Bergeron)

Data released today by Governor Chris Christie’s office shows that school aid for the Bridgewater-Raritan School District for the 2012-2013 school year rose by 12.9%, to $9,087,358, an increase of $1,038,050 over last year’s $8,049,308.

The distribution of that $9,087,358 in state aid for the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District is broken down as follows:

Aid for transportation of children to and from school, $811,013,

Aid for students receiving special education, $5,522,769,

Aid for security, $668,799,

Equalization Aid, $2,084,777

Before this announcement, the proposed 2012-2013 school budget for the Bridgewater-Raritan School District stood at $133,817,689, a 3% increase over last year.  It was already at the 2% tax levy cap allowed by law, and it assumed no increase in state funding.

Christie Presents New & Improved Budget

Before a joint session of the New Jersey Legislature yesterday afternoon, Governor Chris Christie presented his proposed budget for the state’s new fiscal year ending June 30, 2013.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie presents his
administration's new budget, as Assembly Speaker, Sheila
Oliver and Senate President, Stephen Sweeney look on.
(TV Screenshot/Dick Bergeron)

The tally comes in at a hefty $32.1 billion – yet, not only does it not call for any tax increases, but it proposes an across-the-board income tax cut of 10% for all Garden State taxpayers, phased in over three years.

Additionally, the spending plan proposes a $213 million hike in school aid.  This increases the total amount of such assistance by $1 billion since Christie took office two years ago, bringing total school aid in the proposed budget to a record $8.8 billion. 

Claiming that one out of every three dollars in the budget is now being invested in education, Christie said, “We are putting our money where our mouth is.” 

He also emphasized, “We need to give choice and hope to those students and parents now trapped in failing school districts by passing the Opportunity Scholarship Act.”

Christie’s Contradiction

There seems to be a glaring incongruity in what has been Governor Chris Christie’s approach in dealing with two major issues that have recently come before the New Jersey Legislature and his office.  The disputes in question are unrelated to one another, except by the inexplicably dissimilar strategies with which Governor Christie has chosen to address them.
 


NJ Governor Chris Christie fields a question from
the audience at January's Town Hall Meeting in Bridgewater.

The first is the still-unresolved issue of gay marriage.  The second is the painful, but now-settled issue of school budgets.  The common thread that weaves these two disparate matters into a common pattern is the way that the governor has decided that they should be solved.
 
As to the controversy swirling around gay marriage, the Governor has decided that the final voice on the matter should be that of the New Jersey electorate via a state-wide referendum. 
 
Christie feels strongly about that, and has just vetoed a bill that would have placed the union of a gay couple on the same definitional level as that of a heterosexual couple.  The governor has consistently insisted on the notion that the public, not elected officials should make that choice.

Young Bridgewater Student Steals the Show

This morning’s town hall meeting featuring New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was hosted by the JCC (the Jewish Community Center) in its gymnasium on Talamini Road in Bridgewater.
 

Bridgewater student Adam Bernstein queries
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at
this morning's town hall meeting.

The Governor finally made it to our township after two prior, but necessary cancellations.  His arrival had been widely anticipated:  Although the event was scheduled to start at 10:30 AM, people had already filled the JCC parking lot to capacity shortly after 9:00 AM, and vehicles were already lining adjacent roads.
 
If you arrived after 9:45 AM, good luck getting a seat.  Priscille and I arrived around 9:15, and ours was one of the last vehicles to be admitted into the JCC grounds, where we were directed to park the car to the right of the entrance road, with room for only a few more cars.
 
The gathering filled the gym to standing room only.  A near overflow group of New Jerseyans lined both sides of the room and stood along the back wall, where a large, rectangular podium had been set up for a big contingent of print and TV media.
 
Governor Christie arrived just a couple of minutes after 10:30 AM to a rousing welcome and, when he took the mike, immediately began to quip about how he seems to never see the front entrance of any facility that he appears in, joking that he has passed through an endless series of kitchens and back door entrances.
 
You’ll read, see, and hear in other media articles, video and TV news reporting all about the Governor’s remarks and the Q&A session that followed.

Christie’s Initiatives

Politicians campaign on promises of delivering all manner of changes, most of which are promptly forgotten after the elections are over. Not this governor.

That is refreshing. But Governor Christie, as tough and resolute as he is, will be facing an uphill battle as he seeks to implement his reforms on economic development; education; pension & benefits; as well as ethics reform & government transparency.

A solidly Democrat legislature has already stonewalled Christie’s first new nomination to the New Jersey Supreme Court; and, the public unions are working statewide to prevent even the smallest of reforms.

Locally, the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association has already scheduled a meeting with its members at which a representative of the New Jersey Education Association will be present.

You can expect solidarity to be the theme coming from the Education Associations’ leadership. This school year is the last of a three-year wage package. In upcoming negotiations, the will of the Bridgewater-Raritan School Board will be severely tested to see whether or not it has the resolve to push back hard on the type of demands made in the past.

What’s about to happen in this school district is only one small example of the walls that are going up throughout New Jersey between the governor and his foes. Chris Christie still retains, on the whole, the support of the majority of New Jerseyans. But he is facing well-funded opponents as tough as himself.