June 23, 2008 - 5:20pm
Press Release

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Bateman: Pension Reforms Must Continue

Senator Kip Bateman (R-16) issued the following statement following the approval of a pension reform measure (S-1962/1964/1965/1969Scs) by the Senate:

"I am truly pleased that the Legislature has finally acted to put the pension systems that public employees depend on back on firm ground. I am disappointed, however, that some of the most important measures were not acted upon at this time.

"Some of the greatest and costliest abuses to the pension system have come from politically-connected individuals who string together multiple low-paying jobs to earn sizable pensions, a practice known as tacking.

"In response to this known abuse, Senator Buono and I sponsored legislation (S-1969) that would have prevented employees holding multiple public jobs from using more than one job to earn credit in the pension system. I am disappointed that this much needed reform was not included in the final legislation that was approved today.

"It's clear that more work on pension reform needs to be done. I want to congratulate my colleagues, both Republican and Democrat, on the first steps that we achieved today."

BSCHNURE can be reached via email at bschnure@njleg.org.