Update: The legislation has now officially been signed. Here's a link to the Governor's accompanying press statement.
The Governor is finally about to sign public employee pension and benefit changes that were passed by the legislature in June. Governor Corzine held off on the signings to allow the teachers union ample time to explain the changes to their members, most notably the prohibition against bringing out-of-state pension credits into New Jersey.
Other changes to the system are:
- To raise the retirement age from 60 to 62
- To establish a floor of a $7,500 annual salary to be placed into the state's defined-benefits system (all others would move into a 401(k) style plan)
- To eliminate Lincoln's Birthday as a separate state holiday for state workers, thus reducing the number of paid holidays (not vacation days) to 12.
CIANJ supports the changes and applauds the legislature and governor for their recognition that the status quo is unsustainable. However, this must be viewed as the start of more sweeping changes - including the phase-out of lifetime benefits - and not a capstone.
