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The Assembly Monday is prepared to vote on – and is expected to approve – a package of five bipartisan bills sponsors believe will reform taxpayer-funded public employee pensions and benefits.
The legislation is aimed at saving taxpayer dollars and making the financially strapped pension funds sustainable for state and local employees, including educators, police officers and firefighters.
"This is a key step toward fixing our broken pension and benefit system with a comprehensive bipartisan package that's been studied and analyzed to ensure it will eventually save taxpayer money," Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver ( D-Essex) said. "Our system is unsustainable for both taxpayers and public workers, but with this expanded and sweeping package we will bring real reform and relief to taxpayers and create a reliable system for public workers."
"Everyone acknowledges the current structure cannot be supported by taxpayers alone and needs to be revamped,'' lower house Republican Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Morris) said. "We are past the point of talking about the problem and I am pleased that the long overdue changes the system requires are finally becoming a reality."The bills would make numerous changes to public worker pensions (A-2461), health benefits (A-2460), and other public employee benefits (A-2459), prohibit lobbyists from enrolling in the state pension and benefits system (A-2499), and limit the salaries and benefits for officers and workers at state and local authorities (A-2505).
The Assembly will also consider legislation to ease burdensome business regulations, require all state agency rules to be published in the New Jersey Register; and ban state agencies from using regulatory guidance documents, unless authorized to do so by state law. Also on tap is legislation to combat unscrupulous debt collection practices and ensure that free recreational saltwater fishing continues in New Jersey.
– TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
