Says All Public Employees Should be Treated the Same
TRENTON – Senator Richard J. Codey, D-Essex/Morris, issued the following statement today after the Senate approved a measure which would propose a Constitutional Amendment to the voters to allow the Legislature to legislate employee benefits for judges and justices of the Supreme Court:
“When employees think about their annual salary, they don’t often calculate out the cost of their fringe benefits and the deductions from their paycheck that go to pay for those benefits. Their salary is their salary, and any tax or benefit deductions are usually only reserved for the top portion of their pay stub.
“When we passed legislation increasing the cost of public employee pensions and benefits, I opposed that original piece of legislation because I believe strongly that such decisions should be made at the bargaining table, and not through the legislative process.
“However, the current piece of legislation does not single out judges for higher pension and benefits costs. If it did, it would certainly violate the protections put in place to protect them from political reprisal. Instead, it applies the existing law across the board, to all government employees in New Jersey.
“This is a fair measure which treats all public employees the same. I hope the voters support this ballot referendum so that we can get back to more pressing issues for the people of New Jersey.”
