A philanthropic group called The Fund for New Jersey wants candidates running for governor and Legislature, as well as the public at large, to know just what they getting into.
The first in its Crossroads NJ reports is an election-year downer on fixing the Garden State’s fiscal problems. That will followed by a report this week on jobs and the economy, then five more reports in the weeks ahead.
New Jersey’s fiscal position is so precarious that the next governor and Legislature need to consider reducing health benefits for retired public workers to save $1.4 billion a year, while raising $5 billion in taxes, the report recommends.
Rutgers University professor Henry Coleman said the solution needs to include both tax hikes and reductions in employee benefits; if only one side was used, the impacts would be “enormous … off the charts.”