Lawmakers delay hearing in Christie bridge scandal probe
By Matt Arco/NJ Advance Media, for NJ.com
on July 02, 2014
TRENTON – State lawmakers investigating the George Washington Bridge lane closures have agreed to delay a hearing to hear testimony from a key member of Gov. Chris Christie’s inner circle.
Regina Egea, who was originally slated to testify on July 8, will instead appear before legislators on July 17. The hearing was pushed back due to multiple scheduling conflicts, the panel confirmed today.
Egea, currently the director of Christie’s Authorities Unit, is Christie’s incoming chief of staff.
Several “scheduling conflicts” had to be worked out between lawmakers serving on the committee and Egea, said Sen. Lorette Weinberg (D-Bergen), co-chair of the joint legislative committee investigating Christie’s administration over the scandal.
Egea received word of the lane closures just hours after Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Executive Director Patrick Foye ordered the lanes reopened, according to records, which showed Christie’s top appointee at the agency, Bill Baroni, forwarded Egea an email that put an end to the September lane closures.
Egea’s receipt of the email is one of several areas of questioning lawmakers on the Democratic-controlled committee will likely focus their attention.
At least two other committee meetings are scheduled for later this month.
Egea was one of several members of Christie’s administration and inner circle whose name surfaced in a recent report naming people the committee was mulling issuing a subpoena for testimony.
Also included on the list was Christie’s top political strategist, Michael DuHaime; Christie’s former chief counsel, Charles McKenna; and Mark Sokolich, the mayor of Fort Lee.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Christie's town hall bluster is not a real plan
Christie's town hall bluster is not a real plan
By Star-Ledger Editorial Board
on July 02, 2014
Gov. Chris Christie is promising a plan that would allow the state to cut spending on health care and pensions, as he did in 2011 when he signed a bipartisan deal.
We are eager to hear the details, given the state’s deepening fiscal crisis. But this has all the markings of a pointless political exercise intended to impress his fellow Republicans before the 2016 presidential race.
Why would Democrats agree to another deal when Christie just broke the central promise of the 2011 reform? Public workers did their part by chipping in more and getting back less. Christie just stabbed them in the back by reneging on his part of the bargain when he shorted the pension funds by a whopping $2.4 billion over two years.
Christie has also stiff-armed Democrats on other budget items, like the "millionaires tax." It has been two years since Trenton struck a big bipartisan deal, the reorganization of the state’s public universities.
Somehow, a governor who was once a national cheerleader for compromise and bipartisan cooperation has morphed into a more typical politician who is preaching to his own choir.
If the governor is serious about making another round of cuts to public workers, he’ll need to come up with a strategy to make a deal. Pounding on public workers at town hall meetings might be fun for him, but it gets the state nowhere.
If the governor is serious about making another round of cuts to public workers, he'll need to come up with a strategy to make a deal.
Shorting the pension fund today means that the bill next year will be even larger. That’s the key reason Wall Street keeps lowering the state’s credit rating, which is the third worst in the nation and almost certain to take another whack soon.
It is also wildly unfair to retirees. The 2011 reform froze their payments, the single largest source of savings in the reform. It was supposed to be temporary, with cost-of-living benefits restored once the funds were in better health. Christie’s broken promise means that day may never come.
So where is the deal Christie wants to strike? Reasonable people in both parties see the need for both spending cuts and tax increases. The governor should at least appoint a bipartisan commission to examine the options.
Because posturing at town hall meetings is not going to get the job done.
By Star-Ledger Editorial Board
on July 02, 2014
Gov. Chris Christie is promising a plan that would allow the state to cut spending on health care and pensions, as he did in 2011 when he signed a bipartisan deal.
We are eager to hear the details, given the state’s deepening fiscal crisis. But this has all the markings of a pointless political exercise intended to impress his fellow Republicans before the 2016 presidential race.
Why would Democrats agree to another deal when Christie just broke the central promise of the 2011 reform? Public workers did their part by chipping in more and getting back less. Christie just stabbed them in the back by reneging on his part of the bargain when he shorted the pension funds by a whopping $2.4 billion over two years.
Christie has also stiff-armed Democrats on other budget items, like the "millionaires tax." It has been two years since Trenton struck a big bipartisan deal, the reorganization of the state’s public universities.
Somehow, a governor who was once a national cheerleader for compromise and bipartisan cooperation has morphed into a more typical politician who is preaching to his own choir.
If the governor is serious about making another round of cuts to public workers, he’ll need to come up with a strategy to make a deal. Pounding on public workers at town hall meetings might be fun for him, but it gets the state nowhere.
If the governor is serious about making another round of cuts to public workers, he'll need to come up with a strategy to make a deal.
Shorting the pension fund today means that the bill next year will be even larger. That’s the key reason Wall Street keeps lowering the state’s credit rating, which is the third worst in the nation and almost certain to take another whack soon.
It is also wildly unfair to retirees. The 2011 reform froze their payments, the single largest source of savings in the reform. It was supposed to be temporary, with cost-of-living benefits restored once the funds were in better health. Christie’s broken promise means that day may never come.
So where is the deal Christie wants to strike? Reasonable people in both parties see the need for both spending cuts and tax increases. The governor should at least appoint a bipartisan commission to examine the options.
Because posturing at town hall meetings is not going to get the job done.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Chris Christie uper-Wealthy at the Expense of the Working Class and signs new NJ budget: Reaction from lawmakers, unions, organizations
Chris Christie uper-Wealthy at the Expense of the Working Class and signs new NJ budget: Reaction from lawmakers, unions, organizations
By Brent Johnson/The Star-Ledger
on June 30, 2014
Trenton- Gov. Chris Christie today signed a new, $32.5 billion state budget, vetoing a package of tax hikes designed by Democrats and reducing payments to the public-worker pension system to cover a revenue shortfall.
Below is reaction from a number of state lawmakers, unions, and organizations:
STATE SENATE PRESIDENT STEPHEN SWEENEY (D-Gloucester)
"Democrats presented a budget to the governor that met our obligations while not placing the burden on working people. Our budget was a fiscally responsible plan that would have honored the state's commitments and increased funding for critical services. It was the right thing to do for all New Jerseyans. The governor, however, has decided to continue protecting the state's wealthiest at the expense of the middle class and working poor. His belief in punishing the middle class is one of the reasons New Jersey's economy continues to lag behind that of our neighbors and the nation, while working people suffer the brunt of the consequences."
STATE ASSEMBLY SPEAKER VINCENT PRIETO (D-Hudson)
"The governor's failure to fully fund our pension obligation will push New Jersey closer toward fiscal disaster, and his rejection of tax relief for working families and continued support for tax breaks for millionaires is once again disappointing. The ramifications will unfortunately be adversely felt by taxpayers for years to come."
ASSEMBLYMAN GARY SCHAER (D-Passaic)
Chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee
"Our stagnating economy made it obvious that we needed a departure from the governor's repeated approach to the budget — kicking the can down the road year after year — to one where we all agree to do what is necessary to meet our legally-mandated fiscal obligations and to establish fiscal prudence. The governor's budget disregards these obligations. We are now one step closer to a moment of reckoning that will be far less palatable than this one."
ASSEMBLYWOMAN SHEILA OLIVER (D-Essex)
"Year after year, the governor has made reckless fiscal choices based mostly on bloated budget projections by his administration. New Jersey residents continue to pay the price."
ASSEMBLYMAN JOHN BURZICHELLI (D-Gloucester)
"Democrats presented a budget that was based on the ideas of fairness and living up to our obligations. It positioned New Jersey for success and provided much-needed help for working class families struggling to make ends meet. Some Democratic priorities remain, and that's a good thing, but it's not enough. After the governor's actions, the harsh reality is that our fiscal problems will grow immensely in the coming years."
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE
NOTE: Christie is a possible contender for the 2016 Republican nomination for president
"Chris Christie vetoed a budget passed by the state legislature. Why? Because the budget asked the super-wealthy and corporations to pay a little bit more so that middle class pensioners who worked all their lives and have contributed into their retirements could get a fair payment from the state. Christie's plan, however, protects the tax status of the wealthy while nixing strategic investments in key programs like women's health centers and while slashing contributions into the pensions. It's a tale as old as time: a GOP governor standing up for the wealthy at the expense of the working and middle class — all in an attempt to court Republican presidential primary voters."
HETTY ROSENSTEIN
State director of the Communication Workers of America, the largest state workers' union
"There's a reason Wall Street credit agencies have down-graded New Jersey a record six times on Christie's watch. With today's veto, this Governor seems unsatisfied and decided to go for a seventh. Christie can magically find billions for corporations and tax cuts for multi-millionaires, but can't find money to pay New Jersey's bills. By again failing to make sure everyone pays their fair share, Christie continues to put our state on even shakier financial footing. New Jersey's economy has consistently lagged the rest of the nation under Christie, with his trickle-down economic agenda leading to America's 48th worst job creation. For all of Christie's bluster about fiscal discipline and making tough decisions, the Senate and Assembly Majorities are the only ones with the right priorities. Christie again shows he cares more about placating inside-the-beltway think tanks and right-wing caucus voters in Iowa than doing what's best for New Jersey."
GORDON MacINNES
President of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a liberal think tank
"The current budget crisis has made perfectly clear that New Jersey's leaders take a long, hard, mature look at the state's financial situation and come up with a responsible plan for systemic changes that bring stability, predictability, coherence and fairness to state taxes, spending and investment. The knee-jerk 'no new taxes' ideology on display from some of our leaders, both inside and outside the Statehouse, makes coming up with such a plan virtually impossible, and thus puts the state's economic future very much at risk."
By Brent Johnson/The Star-Ledger
on June 30, 2014
Trenton- Gov. Chris Christie today signed a new, $32.5 billion state budget, vetoing a package of tax hikes designed by Democrats and reducing payments to the public-worker pension system to cover a revenue shortfall.
Below is reaction from a number of state lawmakers, unions, and organizations:
STATE SENATE PRESIDENT STEPHEN SWEENEY (D-Gloucester)
"Democrats presented a budget to the governor that met our obligations while not placing the burden on working people. Our budget was a fiscally responsible plan that would have honored the state's commitments and increased funding for critical services. It was the right thing to do for all New Jerseyans. The governor, however, has decided to continue protecting the state's wealthiest at the expense of the middle class and working poor. His belief in punishing the middle class is one of the reasons New Jersey's economy continues to lag behind that of our neighbors and the nation, while working people suffer the brunt of the consequences."
STATE ASSEMBLY SPEAKER VINCENT PRIETO (D-Hudson)
"The governor's failure to fully fund our pension obligation will push New Jersey closer toward fiscal disaster, and his rejection of tax relief for working families and continued support for tax breaks for millionaires is once again disappointing. The ramifications will unfortunately be adversely felt by taxpayers for years to come."
ASSEMBLYMAN GARY SCHAER (D-Passaic)
Chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee
"Our stagnating economy made it obvious that we needed a departure from the governor's repeated approach to the budget — kicking the can down the road year after year — to one where we all agree to do what is necessary to meet our legally-mandated fiscal obligations and to establish fiscal prudence. The governor's budget disregards these obligations. We are now one step closer to a moment of reckoning that will be far less palatable than this one."
ASSEMBLYWOMAN SHEILA OLIVER (D-Essex)
"Year after year, the governor has made reckless fiscal choices based mostly on bloated budget projections by his administration. New Jersey residents continue to pay the price."
ASSEMBLYMAN JOHN BURZICHELLI (D-Gloucester)
"Democrats presented a budget that was based on the ideas of fairness and living up to our obligations. It positioned New Jersey for success and provided much-needed help for working class families struggling to make ends meet. Some Democratic priorities remain, and that's a good thing, but it's not enough. After the governor's actions, the harsh reality is that our fiscal problems will grow immensely in the coming years."
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE
NOTE: Christie is a possible contender for the 2016 Republican nomination for president
"Chris Christie vetoed a budget passed by the state legislature. Why? Because the budget asked the super-wealthy and corporations to pay a little bit more so that middle class pensioners who worked all their lives and have contributed into their retirements could get a fair payment from the state. Christie's plan, however, protects the tax status of the wealthy while nixing strategic investments in key programs like women's health centers and while slashing contributions into the pensions. It's a tale as old as time: a GOP governor standing up for the wealthy at the expense of the working and middle class — all in an attempt to court Republican presidential primary voters."
HETTY ROSENSTEIN
State director of the Communication Workers of America, the largest state workers' union
"There's a reason Wall Street credit agencies have down-graded New Jersey a record six times on Christie's watch. With today's veto, this Governor seems unsatisfied and decided to go for a seventh. Christie can magically find billions for corporations and tax cuts for multi-millionaires, but can't find money to pay New Jersey's bills. By again failing to make sure everyone pays their fair share, Christie continues to put our state on even shakier financial footing. New Jersey's economy has consistently lagged the rest of the nation under Christie, with his trickle-down economic agenda leading to America's 48th worst job creation. For all of Christie's bluster about fiscal discipline and making tough decisions, the Senate and Assembly Majorities are the only ones with the right priorities. Christie again shows he cares more about placating inside-the-beltway think tanks and right-wing caucus voters in Iowa than doing what's best for New Jersey."
GORDON MacINNES
President of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a liberal think tank
"The current budget crisis has made perfectly clear that New Jersey's leaders take a long, hard, mature look at the state's financial situation and come up with a responsible plan for systemic changes that bring stability, predictability, coherence and fairness to state taxes, spending and investment. The knee-jerk 'no new taxes' ideology on display from some of our leaders, both inside and outside the Statehouse, makes coming up with such a plan virtually impossible, and thus puts the state's economic future very much at risk."
Gov is a crook
Pension Update from retired Vice President Keith Dunn
Posted: Friday / 6.6.2014
The State PBA in a joint lawsuit with the NJEA, FMBA, AFSCME, AFL-CIO and other unions and members today filed to block Governor Christie's attempt to cut the legally required contribution into the State's pension system. The lawsuit which calls the required payments a moral and financial obligation of the State seeks to require the State to keep its word to the State's employees and to the public who were promised Chapter 78 would resolve the pension funding crisis.
The State PBA will continue to utilize every legal and legislative option to strengthen the pension system for its members to ensure that the State not only pay its share of the debt caused by a decade of skipped pension payments but that it no longer jeopardize our future retirement and pension investment by intentionally underfunding the system. The years of blaming employees for the failed financial planning of the State and local government must end. State PBA members will be advised as this case proceeds through the court system and of other regulatory and legislative action taken to require the State to perform its legal obligations on our behalf.
Tags: Governor Christie, Pension, Keith Dunn
A Message from Executive Vice President Keith Dunn on Christie Pension Games
Posted: Friday / 5.30.2014 / 7:25 PM
State PBA Will Fight Christie Pension Games
State PBA members are rightfully concerned with the two latest attempts by the Governor to further erode the financial stability of the pension system. Reducing the legally required pension payments and proposing a new round of pension cuts are merely a continuation of what public employees have been forced to endure since 2010. But it is in the best interest of PBA members to be fully informed not only about what is being done in Trenton but what the State PBA is doing about it.
Pension Payment Cuts
In what legislative leaders at the time believed was a "compromise" to cut pension benefits and mandate health care payments in Chapter 78, a pension payment plan was built into the law to require the State to fully fund the pension system in 7 increasingly larger payments. The size of these payments was not a shock to anyone, especially the Governor. But as the deficit grew in the State Budget due to inflated and overly optimistic revenue projections that didn't pan out, the Governor saw the extra pension payments as an easy way out of a difficult budget hole.
In essence, the Governor's proposal makes only the actuarially required "Normal Cost" pension payment to cover the needs of the pension systems for this year. The plan essentially ignores payments for the "Unfunded Liability" portion of the bill which contains the debt owed to the system through years of skipped payments and investment losses. This is like making only the minimum payment on a credit card - it pays the bill but the interest and fees just keep adding up. Legislative leaders, including those who championed Chapter 78, are vowing to fight the Governor on this plan and this debate will rage into the Budget passage at the end of June.
**This plan does not permit deferral or cuts in pension payment for local government employers that fund the vast majority of PFRS.
Hybrid Pensions?
If cutting pension payment wasn't enough to cause a panic for employees, the State Treasurer also floated a generic plan to create "hybrid pensions" that would in theory retain portions of the existing pension structure with a 401K. State PBA members must remember that there is no specific proposal and more questions and rumors than fact on this concept as it stands today. There is no bill to make it happen. There is no formal "plan" to define how it would work and whether PFRS would be included. There are also no bipartisan legislative statements supporting the concept as there was before the bill that became Chapter 78 was introduced.
State PBA members will be given specific details of any plan to reduce pensions, whether in PFRS or not, as soon as it moves from rumor to fact.
State PBA Response
Finally, the State PBA office has received calls about what we are doing and why we haven't been in the press on these matters. PBA members should rest assured that there has been considerable action and attempts to reach the media over the past few weeks.
In addition to the normal lobbying, communication and political action that we must take at times like this that can't be advertised for obvious reasons, the State PBA has been developing a legal and regulatory strategy to tackle these threats head on. The State PBA attorney has already been authorized to take any and all legal action to compel the pension payment be made on behalf of our members. Since the State PBA and NJEA share the same law firm, the coordination of legal resources is fairly simple.
PFRS Board of Trustees Chairman Wayne Hall is also pursuing the rights of the PFRS Board to sue the State to mandate that the entire pension payment be made. The PFRS Board has a fiduciary responsibility to protect the Fund. Chairman Hall will be proposing his plan at the next PFRS Board meeting.
In addition, the State PBA retained actuary is continuing their effort to do a detailed analysis of the PFRS. They are actively engaged in their research and have posed a series of questions to the State actuary and State Treasurer's Office to fill in the gaps in the official PFRS actuary report. This process will take a few months and a full report will be provided to members when complete.
The State PBA has also been communicating with the media throughout this process. The media has been provided with quotes and statements since the pension payment cut was proposed. We can't control what the media prints and it is likely since the NJEA and CWA make up the vast majority of members that the pension payment cut (and hybrid pension approach) would impact that they are an obvious place to obtain a quote. We will continue to speak out on this matter privately and publicly with the media. But PBA members should not be discouraged if they don't see our names in a headline.
We know there is a considerable and organized effort by the Governor and those in the nation that support him to end traditional public employee pensions as we know it. PBA members should be outraged by the repeated violation of trust and the games that these individuals seem happy to play when it is our lives, our investment and our future they are looking to destroy. We will fight this plan and hope that there is an army of angry and motivated PBA members, retirees and their families standing beside us as we do
Posted: Friday / 6.6.2014
The State PBA in a joint lawsuit with the NJEA, FMBA, AFSCME, AFL-CIO and other unions and members today filed to block Governor Christie's attempt to cut the legally required contribution into the State's pension system. The lawsuit which calls the required payments a moral and financial obligation of the State seeks to require the State to keep its word to the State's employees and to the public who were promised Chapter 78 would resolve the pension funding crisis.
The State PBA will continue to utilize every legal and legislative option to strengthen the pension system for its members to ensure that the State not only pay its share of the debt caused by a decade of skipped pension payments but that it no longer jeopardize our future retirement and pension investment by intentionally underfunding the system. The years of blaming employees for the failed financial planning of the State and local government must end. State PBA members will be advised as this case proceeds through the court system and of other regulatory and legislative action taken to require the State to perform its legal obligations on our behalf.
Tags: Governor Christie, Pension, Keith Dunn
A Message from Executive Vice President Keith Dunn on Christie Pension Games
Posted: Friday / 5.30.2014 / 7:25 PM
State PBA Will Fight Christie Pension Games
State PBA members are rightfully concerned with the two latest attempts by the Governor to further erode the financial stability of the pension system. Reducing the legally required pension payments and proposing a new round of pension cuts are merely a continuation of what public employees have been forced to endure since 2010. But it is in the best interest of PBA members to be fully informed not only about what is being done in Trenton but what the State PBA is doing about it.
Pension Payment Cuts
In what legislative leaders at the time believed was a "compromise" to cut pension benefits and mandate health care payments in Chapter 78, a pension payment plan was built into the law to require the State to fully fund the pension system in 7 increasingly larger payments. The size of these payments was not a shock to anyone, especially the Governor. But as the deficit grew in the State Budget due to inflated and overly optimistic revenue projections that didn't pan out, the Governor saw the extra pension payments as an easy way out of a difficult budget hole.
In essence, the Governor's proposal makes only the actuarially required "Normal Cost" pension payment to cover the needs of the pension systems for this year. The plan essentially ignores payments for the "Unfunded Liability" portion of the bill which contains the debt owed to the system through years of skipped payments and investment losses. This is like making only the minimum payment on a credit card - it pays the bill but the interest and fees just keep adding up. Legislative leaders, including those who championed Chapter 78, are vowing to fight the Governor on this plan and this debate will rage into the Budget passage at the end of June.
**This plan does not permit deferral or cuts in pension payment for local government employers that fund the vast majority of PFRS.
Hybrid Pensions?
If cutting pension payment wasn't enough to cause a panic for employees, the State Treasurer also floated a generic plan to create "hybrid pensions" that would in theory retain portions of the existing pension structure with a 401K. State PBA members must remember that there is no specific proposal and more questions and rumors than fact on this concept as it stands today. There is no bill to make it happen. There is no formal "plan" to define how it would work and whether PFRS would be included. There are also no bipartisan legislative statements supporting the concept as there was before the bill that became Chapter 78 was introduced.
State PBA members will be given specific details of any plan to reduce pensions, whether in PFRS or not, as soon as it moves from rumor to fact.
State PBA Response
Finally, the State PBA office has received calls about what we are doing and why we haven't been in the press on these matters. PBA members should rest assured that there has been considerable action and attempts to reach the media over the past few weeks.
In addition to the normal lobbying, communication and political action that we must take at times like this that can't be advertised for obvious reasons, the State PBA has been developing a legal and regulatory strategy to tackle these threats head on. The State PBA attorney has already been authorized to take any and all legal action to compel the pension payment be made on behalf of our members. Since the State PBA and NJEA share the same law firm, the coordination of legal resources is fairly simple.
PFRS Board of Trustees Chairman Wayne Hall is also pursuing the rights of the PFRS Board to sue the State to mandate that the entire pension payment be made. The PFRS Board has a fiduciary responsibility to protect the Fund. Chairman Hall will be proposing his plan at the next PFRS Board meeting.
In addition, the State PBA retained actuary is continuing their effort to do a detailed analysis of the PFRS. They are actively engaged in their research and have posed a series of questions to the State actuary and State Treasurer's Office to fill in the gaps in the official PFRS actuary report. This process will take a few months and a full report will be provided to members when complete.
The State PBA has also been communicating with the media throughout this process. The media has been provided with quotes and statements since the pension payment cut was proposed. We can't control what the media prints and it is likely since the NJEA and CWA make up the vast majority of members that the pension payment cut (and hybrid pension approach) would impact that they are an obvious place to obtain a quote. We will continue to speak out on this matter privately and publicly with the media. But PBA members should not be discouraged if they don't see our names in a headline.
We know there is a considerable and organized effort by the Governor and those in the nation that support him to end traditional public employee pensions as we know it. PBA members should be outraged by the repeated violation of trust and the games that these individuals seem happy to play when it is our lives, our investment and our future they are looking to destroy. We will fight this plan and hope that there is an army of angry and motivated PBA members, retirees and their families standing beside us as we do
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