newjerseynewsroom.com

But poll finds residents blame Christie for conflicts with Legislature

The majority of New Jerseyans support Gov. Chris Christie's proposals to increase state workers' health care premiums and eliminating duel job holding, but opinion is divided on cutting pension benefits for current employees.

Those are key results of a Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll made public Wednesday that asked residents their views of the governor's proposals to cut government spending.

Christie has spent the past few weeks laying out what he sees as an aggressive government reform agenda. Democrats in the Legislature have already signaled their opposition to some of the proposals. The opposition comes as no surprise to most New Jerseyans.

Only 21 percent of New Jerseyasn say that Christie and the Democratic-controlled Legislature have been working well together. A majority, 61 percent, say they have not been working together all that well. Among this latter group, most , 54 percent, say both sides are equally to blame for this state of affairs, with the remainder slightly more likely to blame Christie, 26 percent, than the Democrats, 17 percent.

When it comes to reforming New Jersey government, about 1 in 3 New Jerseyans, 32 percent, say they have a lot of trust in Christie, outpacing the 1 in 7 who have a lot of trust for either legislative Democrats , 14 percent, or Republicans, 14 percent. Even mayors and town councils, 20 percent, are relatively more likely than legislators to engender a lot of trust when it comes to reforming government.

At the other end of the spectrum, about 3 in 10 residents say they have no trust at all in either Christie, 29 percent, legislative Democrats, 29 percent, or legislative Republicans, 36 percent. About 1 in 4, 26 percent, have no trust in their local elected officials.

"While the New Jersey public is not unquestioning in its support, the governor does have a credibility advantage over the Legislature when it comes to reforming government," Patrick Murray, the poll's director, said.

New Jerseyans say that the days when state government needed generous benefits to recruit a quality workforce are past. Specifically just 31 percent say that higher benefits are necessary, compared to 61 percent who say that government salaries are good enough to compete with private employers. The number who feel that extra benefits are not necessary has increased by 10 percentage points since 2005.

Only 8 percent of New Jerseyans say that state government has been managing the costs of its pension system wisely. An overwhelming 78 percent say these costs are out of control, up sharply from 59 percent who felt the same five years ago.

Despite the pension system's current fiscal state, the public is conflicted on whether to cut benefits for current government workers - 46 percent say yes, while 46 percent disagree. Although opinion is currently divided, it should be noted that two and a half years ago, fewer residents 39 percent supported reducing pension benefits while a majority 54 percent were opposed.

A majority opinion does emerge, though, when it comes to new employees. Fully 6 in 10 or 61 percent, New Jerseyans say that newly hired government employees should be put into a 401k-like defined contribution plan rather than a pension. Just 27 percent disapprove of this idea. Approval for this idea is up by 9 percentage points since March 2008.

In another benefit area, Christie has proposed that state workers should pay 30 percent of their health care premiums. The poll results indicate that about half of the public is in general agreement with the premise. Specifically, 48 percent of New Jerseyans feel that state workers should pay about 25 percent or more of their health care premiums — up from 43 percent who said the same five years ago. Another 31 percent feel they should pay about 10 percent and 12 percent feel they should not have to pay anything for health care coverage.

Christie has also proposed eliminating all double-dipping.

A sizable majority of New Jerseyans side with him on this, with 71 percent disapproving of anyone receiving two public salaries, even if both jobs are classified as part-time. Only 23 percent would continue this practice.

About 22 percent of New Jerseyans have been on the public payroll at some time in their lives. Among this group, 56 percent say that government salaries are good enough to recruit a quality workforce without added benefits; 71 percent agree that state workers should be restricted to holding only one public job; and 54 percent approve of putting new employees on a defined contributions retirement plan. However, only 40 percent say state workers should pay 25 percent or more of their health care premiums; and 35 percent support reducing pension benefits for the current workforce.

The poll was conducted by telephone with 801 New Jersey adults from Sept. 15 to Sunday. This poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.

— TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM