Sweeney’s tweak of proposed constitutional amendment may make plan more viable politically, but GOP leaders say it would just result in higher taxes
By John Reitmeyer
A subtle change has been made to the original draft of a proposed constitutional amendment on public-employee pension funding that legislative leaders want to put before voters next year.
The difference isn’t a substantial one when it comes to the already ugly numbers for the grossly underfunded pension system, but it could play a big role in how the pension-funding issue plays out politically, both in the short-term during the push for approval of the ballot question and in the long-term as state policymakers would work to fund it.
The revision was put forward just one week after Senate President Stephen Sweeney rolled out the original version of the amendment, which was immediately criticized by Gov. Chris Christie, who said it would lead to substantial tax hikes.
And it comes as Republicans, business-lobbying organizations and other groups are starting to ramp up their criticism of the amendment in advance of a public hearing on the proposed ballot question that is scheduled for Jan. 7 in the State House in Trenton.
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