Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia (D-33) is calling yesterday’s state Supreme Court ruling allowing billions of dollars of funding to be cut from the pension system “a giant step backwards for New Jersey’s hard-working employees.”Â
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“The Supreme Court’s pension ruling is a giant step backwards for New Jersey’s hard-working public employees as it sided with the [Gov. Chris Christie] administration’s decision not to make payments into the pension system,” Garcia said in a statement.
Mercer County Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson ruled in February that Christie would have to work with the Legislature to find a way to make $1.57 billion worth of pension payments by the end of this month (per NJ Spotlight).
However, yesterday the state Supreme Court reversed the decision by a 5-2 ruling.
“For years, public workers have paid into that system expecting it to be fully funded, so that after a long and rewarding career serving the public, they can retire with the assurance that they would not be let down or left behind.”
“Now, New Jersey must meet its pension obligations to fulfill the promise made to those workers. I will continue to fight for full pension funding in Trenton, as I always have, and will continue to advocate for New Jersey’s public workers and retirees in this year’s budget.”
Garcia joins Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-32), who was also re-elected for a third term as the Hudson County Democratic Organization Chairman yesterday, in speaking out against the N.J. Supreme Court ruling.
