 |
| 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.”
