TRENTON – Senator Nicholas P. Scutari, Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Employee Benefits Reform, read the following opening remarks this morning at the panel’s hearing on the public employee pension system.
“Good morning and welcome to today’s meeting of the Joint Committee on Public Employee Benefits Reform. I look forward to today’s discussion because I believe it will illuminate aspects of both defined contribution and defined benefit plans that are not readily apparent or understood. There is a tendency when talking about pension reform to envision only two possible outcomes: either we embrace the existing system, or we throw it out altogether in favor of something like a 401(k).