S-1962

TRENTON – Senator Barbara Buono today released the following statement regarding the signing of the “Public Employee Pension and Benefits Reform Act of 2008.”

            “I stand before you today in the midst of a Wall Street meltdown caused by freewheeling, profligate borrowing gone bad.  

            “The vote in Washington today on the $700 billion pledge of public money is said to be necessary in order to save and rebuild the nation’s financial system but the impact is already being felt on Main Street. 

TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem released the following statement today, regarding the signing of the “Public Employee Pension and Benefits Reform Act of 2008.”

            “The signing of this legislation reaffirms the Legislature’s commitment to protecting the benefits of the State’s current workforce. This new law is the product of a bipartisan effort to bring real pension relief to the hard-working men and women of New Jersey, and I’d like to thank the leadership, Senators Buono, Scutari, Kean and O’Toole and the rest of my colleagues in the Legislature for their help in crafting this legislation.               “As a union official, I have heard quite a few members tell me to ‘negotiate, not legislate.’  Unfortunately, the irresponsible acts of the legislature and union leaders in the 1990’s , along with additional changes in legislation in 2001, which were done without any real dollars to cover the cost of the enhancements, have put the State in a financial bind.  These irresponsible decisions placed the State’s pension system in a financial crisis, and it would be absolutely unfair to ask taxpayers to shoulder the additional costs.