(TRENTON) – The Assembly Appropriations Chairwoman on Thursday will consider a bipartisan package of public worker pension and benefit reform legislation.
The Assembly Appropriations Committee will meet at 11 a.m. Thursday, March 18 in Committee Room 11. The hearing will be streamed live at http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/media/live_audio.asp.
“Our pension and benefit system is unsustainable for taxpayers and public workers alike,” said Assemblywoman Nellie Pou (D-Passaic/Bergen), the committee chairwoman. “Everyone needs to recognize the enormous unfunded liabilities in the public employee benefits system and the burden carried by taxpayers. No matter what your point of view, the time for blame and finger-pointing is long past. But what everyone can do is work together to ensure we make bipartisan changes that are fair to both taxpayers who fund the system and public workers who rely on it.”
“This is the beginning of returning common sense and sanity to a pension system that is nearing collapse after irresponsible and short-sighted decisions,” said Assembly Republican Appropriations Officer Sam Thompson, (R-Middlesex and Monmouth). “We must enact this legislation, among other reforms of the pension system, or many hard-working employees may lose their retirement security and families will continue to see their tax dollars wasted on a senseless pension system.”
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