Pension

Senate President Steve Sweeney says goverment reforms will be on the table in next year's budget talks, which means tough choices ahead of state elections.

Q. My wife worked at a Pantry Pride supermarkets for a few years while in high school and after. She recalls contributing to a pension and wondered if/how to find out if she can check if she can claim it after all these years.

A Republican lawmaker believes that if New Jersey were to guarantee pension payments in its constitution, the law should provide for a temporary "escape hatch" in years that tax collections fall short, and public employees should agree to significant changes in their health benefits.

What a mess. The much awaited NJ State Supreme Court decision on pension payments came down today and in a 5 to 2 ruling sided with Gov. Christie. He's off the hook for fully funding the pension as called for in the 2011 law he himself signed.

For the first time in more than two decades, revenue projections from the executive branch and the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services are almost identical.

Not so fast, the New Jersey Education Association is saying, after Gov. Chris Christie's budget address Tuesday.

One day after signing a new state budget into law for fiscal year 2015, Gov. Chris Christie told an overflow crowd at a town hall meeting in Caldwell that more public worker pension and health benefits are needed to have the state avoid a fiscal disaster.

If he makes good on his veto vow, Gov. Chris Christie could help rehabilitate his national image that has suffered because of the so-called Bridgegate scandal.

The top lawmaker in the General Assembly said lawmakers are not waiting for a court to rule in a lawsuit seeking to stop Gov. Chris Christie from dramatically slashing the state's contribution to the public employee pension system.

Senate President Steve Sweeney got a lot of press for threatening to shut the government down if the state worker's pension payments were not made.