Kean: Protect Workers' Money

Kean: Protect Workers' Money

Governors & Legislatures Would Be BarredFrom Raiding Employee Payroll Deductions

Legislation sponsored by Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean that would permanently protect workers' contributions to the unemployment compensation fund and the State disability benefits fund was unanimously passed by the State Senate yesterday. In the past, billions of dollars intended for these programs were siphoned off to help balance the state budget and pay for general operating expenses.

"Officials can increase the Unemployment Insurance rate they charge workers and employers and then transfer that money to pay for other programs," Kean stated. "It is a shell game Governors and Legislatures have used in the past to prop up New Jersey's bloated budget."

"This proposed amendment will guarantee that money earmarked for unemployment and disability protection is actually used for those programs," Kean continued. "History has shown that taxes collected for these programs can be raided by state officials to compensate for overspending."

• Over 4.5 Billion has been taken from the unemployment benefits fund
• SCR 60 would permanently protect employee-related funds

"By reducing the reserves in these funds, the stability of the unemployment system is compromised," Kean concluded. "We must protect the integrity of these funds and the workers who pay into them. If economists believe there is a surplus, we should return the money to the workers and businesses that paid into them, not use the money for other government expenses."

Senate Concurrent Resolution 60 would ask voters to amend the state Constitution to require any money collected from taxed wages that is intended for employee benefits to be used for that purpose and prohibit the direct or indirect transferring, borrowing, appropriating or using of the contributions for any other reason.