Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver (D-Essex/Passaic) on Monday praised the bipartisan approval of a constitutional amendment that would further protect taxpayers and the solvency of the state’s employee pension systems.
The Assembly approved the measure (SCR-110) by a vote of 62 to 3 shortly after the Senate granted approval, setting the stage for the constitutional amendment to be placed on the ballot in November allowing voters to decide if judges should contribute the same amount to their pensions and benefits as other state employees are now required to do under the new reform law passed last year.
“The landmark pension and benefit reform law enacted last year was ultimately designed to bring stability to our pension systems and relief to taxpayers.
“The recent Supreme Court ruling threatened to undermine these goals, something this ballot measure will ensure does not happen.
“The growing insolvency of our pension systems has made it clear that we cannot continue to operate as we have for decades.
“This is not about penalizing judges. This measure will create fairness within our new system while maintaining the historical, democratically-held belief that the Judiciary should be free from political interference.
“Public approval of this ballot measure will ensure that everyone contributes equally to a fiscally responsible plan that will help shore up our pension systems,” said Oliver.