Legislative leaders
introduced a 27-bill package Thursday to institute reforms called for by
Senate President Steve Sweeney’s “Path to Progress” initiative,
according to Senate Democrats.
Sweeney
said the bills are designed to fix New Jersey’s fiscal crisis, restore
the stability of the pension system and save tens of billions of dollars
for taxpayers.
“The
Path to Progress is the path to real, sustainable tax relief in a state
with the highest property taxes, the second-largest unfunded pension
liability, the second-worst credit rating and the fifth-highest overall
tax burden in the nation,” Sweeney, D-Salem, Gloucester, Cumberland,
said in a statement.
New Jersey Business and
Industry Association President and CEO Michele N. Siekerka said the
proposed reforms would help New Jersey in the short- and long-term.
“New
Jersey, more than ever, needs to act with a reform agenda that
comprehensively addresses underfunded pensions and the rightsizing of
health benefit costs,” said Siekerka. “If we’re to ever make this great
state more affordable and competitive, and not address our growing
deficits with increased taxes, the time is now.”
Sweeney
said if the state fails to act, increases in property taxes, pension,
health benefits and debt service “will continue to eat up every penny of
state revenue growth over the next three years, crowding out our
ability to make the investments we need to make to increase aid to
growing school districts, expand preschool, fix NJ Transit, make college
affordable and provide funding for social service programs that serve
our most vulnerable citizens.”
The legislation was developed
by a bipartisan Economic and Fiscal Policy Workgroup of economists,
academics, government experts and legislators put together by Sweeney
and chaired by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen;
Republican Senate Budget Officer Steve Oroho, R-Sussex, Warren, Morris;
and Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald, D-Camden.
The
New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants also put out a press
release Thursday saying the group supports the “Path to Progress”
recommendations and legislation.
Sweeney has been traveling the state for months holding town-hall type meetings with residents — including in Atlantic City — to talk about the need to rein in the cost of government.
The legislation includes bills to:
Create a hybrid pension plan for teachers and non-uniformed state,
county and municipal employees that are new hires or have less than five
years of service. It would provide a defined benefit plan on the first
$40,000 of income and a “cash balance” account on income above $40,000.
Any excess earnings would remain within the Teachers’ Pension and
Annuity Fund and the Public Employees Retirement System to reduce the
unfunded liability.
Merge the high-cost School
Employees Health Benefits Plan into the State Health Benefits Plan to be
run by an expanded Plan Design Committee, and shift all public
employees from Platinum-level health care plans to Gold plans upon the
expiration of current contracts. Public employers would be required to
offer Bronze-level plans to employees with zero premium payments.
Require
county school superintendents to develop regionalization plans to merge
all K-4, K-6 and K-8 districts into K-12 regional school systems, fund
regionalization studies, require all local school districts to
coordinate curriculums and schedules with their regional high schools,
and set up a pilot program permitting countywide school districts.
Require
the state to administer and assume the cost of all Extraordinary
Special Education placements above $55,000, replace census-based
reimbursement for special education costs with reimbursement based on
actual pupil costs, and assign and train administrative law judges to
handle all special education cases.
Fund counties to appoint coordinators to expand shared services.
1 comment:
I commend Mr. Sweeney for finally putting forth a sensible plan to address the property tax burden for homeowners and begin to steer New Jersey away from the brink of bankruptcy. As the leading portion of the property tax burden, the cost of multiple school administrations has to be addressed. In addition, state and federal mandates that drive up the costs of these administrations which do not directly impact the quality of education but merely promote and support some political correctness policy have to be resisted.
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