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>>> N.J. pension system most underfunded of all 50 states


New Jersey's public-worker pension and health benefits system is the fourth-most underfunded in the nation, an issue that has become one of the most controversial topics in Trenton. Gov. Chris Christie says more work needs to be done to fix it. Democrats and union leaders say Christie broke a promise to fully fund the system. Here is a deeper look at the problem.


By Samantha Marcus

March 12, 2015


http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/03/nj_pension_system_most_underfunded_of_all_50_state.html



TRENTON — New Jersey's record of funding its pension system is the worst in the country, according to a new study by the National Association of State Retirement Administrators.

That chronic underfunding has led to a deepening pension crisis and individual pension funds that could run out of money by 2027, officials say.

In a comparison of state's contributions as a percentage of the annual required contribution, from fiscal year 2001 to 2013, New Jersey came dead last at 38 percent. Some states such as Connecticut, Montana, Maine and West Virginia exceeded required contributions.

New Jersey and Pennsylvania were the only states whose payments over that time frame were less than half of what was recommended. All but six contributed at least 75 percent.

"This study finds that although variation exists in (annual required contributions) ... among states and other pension plan sponsors, i.e., cities, school districts, etc., most governments made good-faith efforts to fund their pension plans, and only a few severely neglected their pension funding responsibilities," it said.

The study reviewed 112 state and local public employers that the organization said make up more than 80 percent of all public pension assets and participants. From 2001 to 2013 for all those plans the annual required contributions jumped from $27.7 billion to $93.7 billion.

The required contributions were low early in that span because of high investment returns at the turn of the 21st century, the group said. But when returns fell off from 2000 to 2002 and in 2008 and 2009, governments struggled to pay rising required contributions.

New Jersey governors have been shortchanging the pension system since 1996, and the state skipped payments altogether from 2001 to 2004, when the annual required contribution called for $2.8 billion. While the state was taking a pension holiday, it increased benefits for employees.

The state tried to get its unfunded pension liability under control with a 2011 pension reform package designed to gradually increases the state's pension contribution over seven years until it reached the full annual required contribution. In addition, the retirement age was raised, cost-of-living increases were suspended, and workers were required to contribute more toward their benefits.

But the state has fallen off that seven-year climb. Last spring Gov. Chris Christie slashed $2.4 billion in planned pension payments for the fiscal year ending last June and the current fiscal year when tax collections came up short. Public worker unions in February won a battle in Superior Court to reclaim the $1.57 billion cut from this year's payment, and they've announced plans to sue the governor for shorting the payment in his proposed 2016 budget.

New Jersey's faces an $83 billion unfunded pension liability. Christie has called for sweeping reforms to the state retirement system, including freezing the pension system and moving active employees into a hybrid defined-benefit, 401(k)-like defined-contribution system.

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