Senate Passes Sweeney/Kean Amendment Requiring State Fulfill Pension Obligation

TRENTON – Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney and Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean today said the ability of the state to keep its promise of a secure retirement for career public employees would be jeopardized without a constitutional guarantee that future lawmakers and Governors could not shirk their annual pension obligations.

The Senate leaders jointly proposed a constitutional amendment (SCR-1) that would require the state to annually meet its obligation for each pension plan it operates. But they noted that even if the state had made its full payments over the past decade, the system would still be nearly 30 percent underfunded – highlighting the need for the reforms the Senate unanimously passed last week to secure the pension system’s foundation.

TRENTON – A Senate resolution sponsored by Senate President Steve Sweeney (D – Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland) that would call for a constitutional amendment to raise the state’s minimum wage and tie further increases to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) cleared the full Senate today. The initiative would be placed on the 2013 ballot for voter approval.

“The governor failed to stand up for working people in this state, so now we are going to take this issue directly to the voters,” said Sweeney. “It is time to remove politics and politicians from this process once and for all. The people of New Jersey clearly support this issue and I have no doubt that they will overwhelmingly approve this measure in the fall.”

TRENTON – A resolution sponsored by Senator Ellen Karcher which would ask voters to constitutionally dedicate half of this year’s penny increase in the State sales tax to property tax reform efforts was approved today by the Senate by a vote of 35-0, and by the Assembly by a vote of 77-0, and now heads to this voters as a ballot question this November.

“Through this legislation, we are committing a non-lapsing source of revenue to fix New Jersey’s long-broken property tax system,” said Senator Karcher, D-Monmouth and Mercer. “For over thirty years, government in New Jersey has relied too heavily on property taxes to fund some of its most basic obligations, and taxpayers have been socked with increase upon increase. We have to draw a line in the sand, and by asking the voters to approve this down-payment on reform, we are taking the first steps towards reigning in runaway property taxes.”

TRENTON – Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland) and Senator Shirley K. Turner (D-Mercer, Hunterdon) issued the following statements today regarding Senate passage of SCR-1, which would place on the ballot in 2013 a constitutional amendment to raise the state’s minimum wage and tie future increases to the Consumer Price Index:

“Democrats are united in raising the state’s minimum wage,” said Sweeney. “We are giving the governor the chance to do the right thing, for once, for low income people in this state. If he refuses, then we are fully prepared to move forward with a constitutional amendment. I have no doubt that such an amendment would pass if put before the people of New Jersey, who understand that families simply can’t make ends meet on $7.25 an hour.”

TRENTON – A Senate resolution sponsored by Senate President Steve Sweeney (D – Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland) that would call for a constitutional amendment to raise the state’s minimum wage and tie further increases to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) cleared the full Assembly today. The initiative will now be placed on the 2013 ballot for voter approval.

“The people of New Jersey clearly support a raise in the minimum wage and I look forward to them overwhelmingly approving this ballot question in November,” said Sweeney. “They will pick up the ball where Governor Christie dropped it. As President Obama noted in his State of the Union address, we have to do something for working people in this country who are struggling to make ends meet. Raising the minimum wage is the right thing to do, and by tying future increases to the CPI, we are removing politics and politicians from this process once and for all.”

TRENTON – Senate President Steve Sweeney today introduced legislation calling for a constitutional amendment that would raise the state’s minimum wage and tie further increases to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The initiative would be placed on the 2013 ballot for voter approval.

“For years, New Jersey has assigned a dollar amount to the minimum wage that is woefully inadequate,” said Sweeney. “In fact, it is a complete failure. An increase must happen. By tying future increases to the CPI, we are sparing working people from having their wages tied to the whims of politicians. Governor Christie simply did not agree with us on this issue, so we took him out of the equation. Moreover, this is a promise to workers that can’t be taken away by future Legislatures or governors.”

TRENTON – A Senate resolution sponsored by Senate President Steve Sweeney (D – Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland) that would call for a constitutional amendment to raise the state’s minimum wage and tie further increases to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) cleared the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee today. The initiative would be placed on the 2013 ballot for voter approval.

“For years, New Jersey has assigned a dollar amount to the minimum wage that is woefully inadequate,” said Sweeney, who testified before the Committee. “In fact, it is a complete failure. According to a 2011 analysis by the Office of Legislative Services, among the 307,000 workers in New Jersey who earned among the lowest hourly wages, nearly half worked full-time and one-quarter were parents. Imagine trying to feed a family, pay the rent and keep gas in the car on less than $16,000 a year.”