2013
Whether or not you like New Jersey Governor Christie, the fact is he must deal with significant fiscal problems; one of the largest is the funding and liabilities associated with the pension and retiree health care benefits for unionized state and municipal workers. For example:
New Jersey’s public pension deficit swelled 13 percent to $47.2 billion in fiscal 2012 as the state continued to make partial contributions to its retirement plans.
The system had about 64.5 percent of assets needed to cover promises to current and future retirees as of July 1, 2012, compared with 67.5 percent a year earlier, when the gap stood at $41.7 billion, according to data posted on the state Treasury Department’s website.“It’s getting to be an issue” for investors, Dan Solender, director at Lord Abbett & Co. in Jersey City, said yesterday by telephone. “They’re making reforms, which is good. But that liability is still growing.”
The above does not include retiree health care liabilities. All this makes it a bit ironic that many of his critics complain he hasn’t given more and spent more. I accidentally came across this perspective on a union website. The state of New Jersey’s finances is largely the result of the unholy alliance between politicians over many years and public employee unions.
He (Christie) has used his influence to conditionally veto the minimum wage bill, denying low-wage workers a long overdue raise, even as more New Jersey families continue to fall into poverty and income inequality rises.
Christie used his influence to pursue one of the nation’s most aggressive packages of corporate tax breaks and subsidies. However, both history and our state’s persistent high unemployment rate have proven that trickledown economics is not a solution for New Jersey’s jobs crisis.
Christie used his influence to cancel the ARC Tunnel project which would have created 6,000 new construction jobs, created 45,000 permanent jobs, increased real estate values, and spurred economic activity.
Christie used his influence to cut property tax rebates for seniors, to slash education funding to our schools, to reduce tuition assistance for college students, to erode collective bargaining rights for public workers, to veto pay equity legislation, to cut funding for women’s health care/family planning, to pick fights with teachers, and to gut the Earned Income Tax Credit.
There is no denying that Governor Chris Christie is influential. But for unemployed families, low wage workers, and our state’s middle class, Christie’s influence has been a disaster.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
If arc was so great, why not have new jersey residents pass a special tax on themselves to fund it? I agree more needs to be done relative to public pensions and ret med. will christy take a page out of rahm’s book and dump retires into the exchanges?
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