Catherwood LibraryILR School

On Tuesday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced that he would cut the state?s payment into its pension fund by more than half to overcome a shortfall in revenue. The state had predicted to bring in about $1 billion more in revenue than it actually collected, and faced with ?no breathing room left?, Christie will cut the $1.58 billion payment to the state?s pension system. The governor also suggested cutting the state?s payment to the pension fund next year as well. New Jersey had been scheduled to pay $2.25 billion in 2015, which Christie said should be cut by more than two-thirds. The drastic action is likely to ignite unions who are likely to bring the issue to court. Earlier in his tenure, Christie reached an agreement with the public workers unions whereby the state would escalate payments to the pension system in future years to make up for missed payments in years before Christie?s time and the union members would increase their contribution.