Judge Rules Christie’s Pension-Cutting Move Unlawful

New Jersey Judge Mary C. Jacobson has ruled that when Gov. Christie declined making the full pension payment for public employees last year, he was violating state law. He is has now been court ordered to find a way to fund the remainder of the payment, a cost of $1.57 billion.

The ruling could not come at a worse time for the governor, as he is already struggling with the lowest in-state approval ratings of his tenure. As far as his future plans go, Mr. Christie must be feeling the damage his current dilemma will have on his presidential ambitions.

The judge also ordered Christie’s administration to pay the legal fees of the multiple public sector unions that sued to force the payments. The governor’s office, in response, vowed to appeal.

Ironically, Christie received much public note when declaring he had “fixed” the pension problems caused by laws he signed in 2010 and 2011 which required public employees to contribute more towards their pensions.

The state had promised to increase the amount it paid toward the annual pension in order to account for the issue, but Christie then announced that he would not make the full payments for the next two years. The reason? An “unanticipated” revenue shortfall, despite the many warnings that the budget Christie signed was based on unrealistically optimistic projections.

The announcement that the pension would not be paid in full prompted the lawsuit from the union, representing the hundreds of public employees affected. Judge Jacobson ruled in June 2014 that the governor could skip the payments for that year, solely because of the financial disaster the state was facing with technically only 5 days left to balance the budget.

After utilizing the line-veto to strike the legislature’s proposals on how to deal with the fiscal crisis, Christie faces a serious legal charge along with public disappointment for his inability to follow through on his hopeful promises.

“The governor,” Judge Jacobson wrote, “now takes the unusual position in this court of claiming that this legislative contractual guarantee, which embodied significant reforms for which he took substantial credit with great national fanfare, violates the New Jersey Constitution.”

Union leaders and Democrats alike appreciate the ruling to force the governor to meet his obligation, and the state must cross its fingers that Christie will have a plan that will be both realistic and effective this time.