NJ WATCHDOG: Christie dumps pension promises to plug budget

For immediate release:


Add Chris Christie’s name to the list of New Jersey governors who reneged on state pension promises.

Faced with an $800 million budget deficit and falling revenue projections, Christie slashed $900 million from a $1.6 billion pension contribution the state is required to make by June 30 under state statute.

“Our problem is we’ve made promises to people that we cannot keep,” Christie admitted in a press conference Tuesday.

In addition, Christie plans to chop nearly $1.6 billion off next year’s scheduled pension payment of $2.25 billion.

“I’ve made the decision we’re not going to blindside our students, blindside our seniors, higher education or those who rely on the safety net the state provides in order to balance the budget,” said the governor.

Instead, Christie is diverting the funds away from a public pension system that already faces a shortfall of $51 billion, according to state Treasury figures.

Christie’s override of state statute with an executive order is a conflict likely to wind up in court. Meanwhile, the governor intends to get his way.

Christie acknowledged his vaunted pension reform of 2011 – which he once called his “biggest governmental victory” – is “not making a significant enough dent.”

Within the next month, Christie said he would propose a new round of cuts to pension and health benefits received by public workers and retirees.

During the press conference, the governor tried to absolve himself of any blame for the crisis.

“I am not going to pay for the sins of my predecessors,” declared Christie, still eyeing a run for the presidency in 2016.

To be fair, pension funds were shortchanged by a succession of previous New Jersey governors – including Jim Florio, Christine Todd Whitman, James McGreevey, Richard Codey and Jon Corzine.

Yet Christie, a self-proclaimed reformer, has done little to curb pension abuses within his office and administration. New Jersey Watchdog investigations have found:

• Louis Goetting, Christie's deputy chief of staff, rakes in $228,860 a year – $140,000 in salary plus $88,860 in pension as a retired state employee.
• Of 60 double-dippers in the executive branch, 19 were hired under Christie, New Jersey Watchdog reported in 2012.
• A subsequent New Jersey Watchdog investigation last year identified 80 State Police retirees who returned to the state payroll full-time as double-dippers.
• Adam Heck, the governor's associate legal counsel, gets a $44,818 a year state disability pension in addition to his $110,000 salary.
• Heck is one of 18 "disabled" state employees who collect salaries for working plus disability pensions because they supposedly can no longer work, New Jersey Watchdog discovered.

Perhaps the most notable pension indiscretion involves Christie’s running mate, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno.

Guadagno, as Monmouth County sheriff in 2008, made false and misleading statements that enabled her top aide to improperly collect an $85,000 a year pension in addition to his $87,500 salary. The story was first reported by New Jersey Watchdog in October 2010.

The story is online at http://newjersey.watchdog.org. The direct link is http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2014/05/20/christie-pension-promises/.

Christie's Rosy Revenue Projections Are A Fraud

For Immediate Release:
Thursday,May 24, 2012

Still Pushing Tax Cuts to Multi-Millionaires While Lying About Revenue Projections Will Only Delay A Genuine Jersey Comeback

(NEW JERSEY) - The non-partisan Office of Legislative Services is warning that New Jersey is facing a whopping $1.3 billion tax revenue shortfall. These bleak numbers show the rosy revenue numbers Governor Chris Christie has been touting for the past several months have been self-serving, delusional and completely wrong.

Christie's administration now claims the revenue shortfall will "only" be a mere $676 million - which is akin to saying Snooki is just a little bit tan. Even with this newly-crafted, best-case scenario, Christie continues pushing income tax cuts for the wealthy in spite of the bad news. In fact, yesterday, the OLS's budget chief said an additional $900 million shortage could be tacked onto the already-stark numbers if revenue growth rate continues at its current clip.

Just as his "Jersey Comeback" has been undercut by reality and cold hard facts, Christie's revenue projections are inflated and unrealistic. Since the non-partisan OLS numbers don't match his stubborn attempts to cut taxes for the super-wealthy, Christie has once again resorted to name-calling and mean-spirited attacks. He's referred to OLS staff as "Dr. Kevorkian" and "hand maidens." Hopefully, his salty language won't fool anyone into ignoring the real issue. Namely, that Christie's rosy rhetoric fails to match reality.

Just as there is one set of rules for Chris Christie and one set of rules for everyone else, it seems there is also one set of revenue projections for Chris Christie and another for everyone else. Christie's delusional fairy tale flies in the face of facts that consistently prove tax cuts to the super-wealthy fail to create jobs, but instead merely create more wealth for the One Percent - many of whom are his campaign donors - to sit on.

Christie likes to say the debate now isn't whether to cut taxes or not, but which taxes to cut. Well... the question now isn't whether Christie's rosy revenue projections are off, but whether they are only insanely off by hundreds of millions like he now admits, or obscenely off by $1.3 billion, as OLS projects.

Christie wants to claim more money on the books, so he can bankroll unfair and unsustainable tax cuts benefiting the One Percent, while leaving the middle-class out in the cold. Yet, it is painfully clear that the state does not have the money needed to fund this scheme. And it is New Jersey's middle-class and municipalities who will be harmed if it comes to pass. By continuing to foolishly and blindly charge ahead and push tax cuts to multi-millionaires while lying about the numbers, Christie is simply delaying a genuine Jersey Comeback.

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