Pensions

The decision to make a risky investment of the $180 million magnitude of the Lehman purchase was clearly not made without the input of some appointee of the Corzine administration. Yet, one year later, the Treasurer continues to insist that the investment was solely the decision of low-level employees of the Division of Investment who are being demoralized by questions about the $118 million loss.

With New Jersey facing an estimated present value of $75 Billion in future liabilities for State Pensions and Health Care, Governor Corzine, State Senator Loretta Weinberg, and Assembly members Gordon Johnson and Valerie Huttle still have not told the voters what they would do regarding this impending state crisis. 

In 2006, legislators met all summer trying to find ways to keep the pension funds from insolvency, O'Toole said. Now, in an election year, the governor plans to increase pension benefits without providing any of the resources needed to pay for the benefits. The governor is pushing the pensions closer to insolvency.

New Jersey state government will face the worst, most devastating fiscal crisis in its modern history starting next year, Senator Bucco said. To create the illusion of a lower budget, "Governor Deficit" has deferred billions of dollars in expenses that will create unprecedented shortfalls for future governors and legislatures. We should not approve this fiscally irresponsible legislation.

Senator Robert Singer, R-Lakewood, praised the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee for approving Senate Bill 222, which will close a loophole that prevents some workers injured at state psychiatric institutions or correctional facilities from receiving full disability benefits.

Senator Joe Pennacchio, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement after he questioned an official at budget hearings yesterday about NJBest, a so-called 529 plan created by the state for parents trying to save so they can afford the ever increasing cost of a college education for their children. Morningstar rated New Jersey's 529 plan as among the worst five in the nation.

Two Republican state senators renew their call for immediate pension hearings by a bipartisan commission with the power to subpoena witnesses. New Jersey taxpayers, firefighter, teachers and public employees need to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the same politically connected Wall Street financiers that preyed on New York and other state pension funds didn't exploit New Jersey's pension system as well.

Senators Joseph Pennacchio and Bill Baroni are drafting legislation that would create a bipartisan commission to investigate the state's handling of its depleted $59 billion pension system and come up with a plan to restore it to solvency. The Senate Resolution would create a bipartisan panel of senators with the power to issue subpoenas.

Senator Joseph Pennacchio, R-Passaic and Morris, is requesting that the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee agree to thoroughly question three members of the State Investment Council, which sets policy for state pension investments, before signing off on their reappointments by Governor Corzine..

The state's suit against Lehman Brothers will not provide the answers that taxpayers and retirees need to be certain that the state is competently managing the billions of dollars of hard earned money that is being placed in its care.