Another Look at Reform in New Jersey - The American Spectator | USA News and Politics
Another Look at Reform in New Jersey
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The videos of New Jersey governor Chris Christie engaging in pro-market rhetoric keep drawing attention. Here’s the most recent popular one, which has over half a million views on YouTube: 

After his first major legislative accomplishment, passing a balanced budget that closed a $10.7 billion revenue gap, there were two agenda items that Christie needed to fulfill to back up his rhetoric. The first was the 2 percent property tax cap that he signed in July. As Josh Barro has argued, a similar cap allowed Massachusetts to place itself on a far more sustainable fiscal path without sacrificing public service quality.

Perhaps even more important than the cap, though, was an overhaul of the state’s public pensions. Notably, Christie was only able to sign a balanced budget by skipping $3 billion in state pension contributions. That move only contributed to the more than $180 billion in unfunded pension liabilities the state is now facing, according to Christie.

So it was crucial that Christie follow up with a legitimate plan to resolve the pensions crisis. Last week he announced his plan. APP.com has a summary of the plan here. Basically, the plan would roll back an extravagant pension benefit enhancement, freeze cost of living adjustments, and require state workers to contribute more to their health care premiums, and increase the retirement age.

The Wall Street Journal gives Christie’s plan high marks in an editorial this morning, claiming that “the Christie plan would eliminate a major chunk of the state’s unfunded liabilities, and for that he deserves kudos.” And the Mercatus Center’s Eileen Norcross calls the plan “significant and bold.”

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