Dueling pension rallies unfold at Statehouse

TRENTON (AP) — Dozens of people carrying signs urging Gov. Chris Christie to fund the state's public pension shouted slogans and disrupted a conservative group's rally over retirement funding on the steps of the statehouse.

The dueling rallies come after the state Supreme Court ruled in Christie's favor over the state's pension payments. Christie sought to pay less than required by a 2011 law. The court held pensioners are entitled to the benefits but sorting out the payment is up to lawmakers and Christie.

Republican Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon joined the conservative think tank Americans For Prosperity New Jersey Thursday and engaged the crowd, saying the state does not have $2 billion to make the payment.

"The mathematics don't work here," he said. "We don't have the power to change the mathematics."

The 2011 law requires a $3.1 billion payment in the next fiscal year, while Christie has proposed making a $1.3 billion payment.

The roughly three dozen counter-protesters shouted: "Fund the pension. It's the law," and marched along the edge of the street after a state trooper informed them rules require groups of more than 10 protesters must seek a permit to rally on the statehouse steps.

Democrats who control the Legislature have vowed to make the payment and have unveiled plans to introduce a tax on income over $1 million, though that proposal would not raise enough revenue to meet the demand. Democrats have not specified how they would make up the difference.

A new budget is due July 1.

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