New Jersey Governor Calls for a Deferral of Pension Contributions
In a November 27, 2008 video, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine decries property tax increases at a time of recession. For some municipalities, hiking taxes is the solution to making good on retirement benefit IOUs. It seems that the Garden State executive is not alone. Recall that 300 corporations and organizations recently wrote to Congress, asking for contribution relief as required by the Pension Protection Act of 2006. (See "Pension Plan Metrics - What's Wrong With This Picture?" November 15, 2008.)
A short-term fix, while comforting to some, is seen by others as the equivalent of placing a bandaid on a festering sore. Unless you clean the wound, it is unlikely to ever heal.
Politics and pensions = strange bedfellows? The pillow fight is about to begin.
