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Public workers on Monday rallied outside of the Statehouse.
(Samantha Marcus/NJ Advance Media)
TRENTON -- Angry over the uncertainty of a constitutional amendment requiring the state to contribute annually to their pensions, public workers on Monday rallied outside the Statehouse and called for Senate President Stephen Sweeney to put the measure up for a vote.
With chants of "Post the bill! Pass the bill!" the public employees said they won't be patient and will no longer accept mere promises that the state will pay into the pension system that funds the retirement of 800,000 workers.
"We are here to make sure this problem gets solved once and for all. And we aren't going to let anyone tell us to just keep waiting. Because waiting, waiting doesn't fix the pension problem," said Wendell Steinhauer, president of the New Jersey Education Association. "... We've been given promises for the last 20 years, and the problem has only gotten worse."
The constitutional amendment would guarantee the state increase payments into the pension fund and within a few years reach the full payment recommended by actuaries. Decades of underfunding has left the pension system hobbled and $43.8 billion short of what it would cost to pay for future benefits.
The Legislature has about a week to vote to get the constitutional amendment on the November ballot for voter approval. But is has become entangled in a fight to raise money for the Transportation Trust Fund.
At a news conference following the rally, Sweeney (D-Gloucester) reiterated he won't post the measure putting the constitutional amendment before voters until the question of funding the Transportation Trust Fund is resolved.
About $3.5 billion in road, bridge and transit projects across the state have been idled as legislators and Gov. Chris Christie clash on a new funding scheme for the trust fund.
The Senate and Assembly have agreed on a plan to raise the gasoline tax by 23 cents a gallon, while cutting taxes on estates and retirement income. They would also raise a popular tax credit for the working poor and create an income tax deduction for veterans.
The governor wants to roll back the sales tax from 7 percent to 6 percent over two years and increase the retirement tax exclusion. He has said taxpayers deserve a broad-based tax cut to offset the 23-cent gas tax hike.
The Assembly has already passed a bill pushed by the governor, but Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson) has since pledged his support to the Senate alternative.
Sweeney and Prieto are hoping to line up enough Republican votes to override a likely gubernatorial veto.
"We're counting the votes," Sweeney said Monday. "The governor is working very hard against it. We're working very hard towards it."
Sweeney has said the Senate won't pass the governor's tax cuts, which are estimated to cost the state nearly $1.8 billion a year by 2021, according to the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services. The state can't afford that price tag, he's said.
The legislative alternative would cost about $900 million once fully phased in. (The impact of both proposals is lessened by about $346 million a year that the state budget would no longer have to contribute toward the Transportation Trust Fund).
At the same time, the proposed constitutional amendment would increase the state's pension obligation by anywhere from $600 million to $800 million a year.
Sweeney said Monday he'll put the pension referendum up for a vote within days of the Legislature approving a trust fund deal with a veto-proof majority, which is still out of reach.
"As long as I know I have the votes to override a veto and the speaker knows he has the votes to override a veto, there's no sense to wait," he said. "The goal is to position ourselves to get the (Transportation Trust Fund) fixed, and move forward, and fix the pension system."
Sweeney said he wants to make sure the state can actually pay the pension bill and the public will vote for it in November. He said he wants to pass the amendment this year, but "there's always next year."
"It's too important an issue not to be ensured that we can pass it," he said. "The easy thing is just put it up, and if it fails say 'I gave you what you wanted, it died, it's on you.'"
Christie opposes the constitutional amendment and has warned taxpayers it will soak them with $3 billion in tax increases.
Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.