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Policy Brief
Financial Incentives Are The "Core" Of New Education Standards
The implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative is forcing states to determine when a “good offer” becomes an offer that cannot be refused. This report will explain the issues, in terms of both finances and fedearlism, surrounding the adoption of the Commone Core.
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Research
Public Sector Pension Reform: Addressing Pressing Fiscal Realities from a Long-Term Perspective
There are persistent fiscal and demographic challenges in most states. The public sector workforce is aging as the baby boom cohort moves towards and into traditional retirement ages. Budgetary pressures at the state and local level make it difficult to increase plan funding and maintain the size of the public sector workforce.
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Headlines
Report Says State Budget Surpluses Don't Mean That Much
A new study shows that many states could end the current fiscal year with surpluses in their general funds. While that may seem like good news, it's probably too early to get excited. That's because those positive numbers are largely the result of one-time influxes of tax revenue that came when investors sold off assets late last calendar year to avoid higher federal tax rates that came in 2013.
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Headlines
State pensions in America: Ruinous Promises
States cannot pretend to be in good financial health unless they tackle pensions.
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Headlines
State pension reforms to result in more hybrid pension plans -- report
More states will create hybrid plans in the future because of the less-volatile contribution levels and the fact that the defined contribution components are portable for a workforce that is now increasingly more mobile, according to a new report.
- View All News Stories
Budget timeline: Annual
Fiscal Year starts: July 1
The current state budget can be found here.
Find the legislative session calendar here.
Find the current legislative leaders here.
Gov. Christopher Christie
Office of Governor Chris Christie
125 West State Street
P.O. Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625
Phone: (609) 292-6000
Fax: (609) 777-2922
http://www.state.nj.us/governor/
Charlene Holzbaur, Director
Office of Management & Budget
33 West State Street, P.O. Box 221
Trenton, NJ 08625
Phone (609) 777-1988
www.state.nj.us/treasury/omb/
Want a more robust, long-term look at your state's fiscal health, beyond the budget? There are two parts: Click here for the FY2012 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) compiled by the state government, and click here for information on the state's pension liabilities.
New Jersey is required to pass a "balanced budget." Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 2 of the 1947 Constitution states "no general appropriation law or other law appropriating money for any State purpose shall be enacted if the appropriation contained therein, together with all prior appropriations made for the same fiscal period, shall exceed the total amount of revenue on hand and anticipated which will be available to meet such appropriations during such fiscal period, as certified by the Governor". New Jersey's Budgetary Comparison Schedules within its annual reports showed budget deficits (negative net transactions) for each of the years studied.
The governor is allowed to block the distribution of appropriations to State agencies when the distribution is not in the State's best interest. New Jersey law also permits deficits to be carried over from one year to the next.
The State maintains two major funds: the General Fund and the Property Tax Relief Fund. The State budgets both of its major funds and several non-major funds. The annual reports' Budgetary Comparison Schedules are presented in a consistent manner and easy to locate. These schedules also present all the necessary information efficiently and include "total" columns for non-major funds.
The New Jersey governor has highlighted a $600 million reduction in the State debt, reductions in the cost and size of government and no legislative "add-ons," a constitutional amendment to require voter approval of state debt, and the establishment of a Long Term Obligation and Capital Expenditure Fund. Moreover, the governor signed an executive order to require recurring revenue match recurring spending in future proposed budgets. [from the Institute for Truth in Accounting]
Find the state's bond ratings here.
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Pensions :
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RESEARCH
Public Sector Pension Reform: Addressing Pressing Fiscal Realities from a Long-Term Perspective
There are persistent fiscal and demographic challenges in most states. The public sector workforce is aging as the baby boom cohort moves towards and into traditional retirement ages. Budgetary pressures at the state and local level make it difficult to increase plan funding and maintain the size of the public sector workforce.
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HEADLINES
State pension reforms to result in more hybrid pension plans -- report
More states will create hybrid plans in the future because of the less-volatile contribution levels and the fact that the defined contribution components are portable for a workforce that is now increasingly more mobile, according to a new report.
- View All New Jersey articles
State Debt :
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HEADLINES
Report Says State Budget Surpluses Don't Mean That Much
A new study shows that many states could end the current fiscal year with surpluses in their general funds. While that may seem like good news, it's probably too early to get excited. That's because those positive numbers are largely the result of one-time influxes of tax revenue that came when investors sold off assets late last calendar year to avoid higher federal tax rates that came in 2013.
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RESEARCH
Federal Aid to the States 2008-2011
It is well understood that the federal government must make spending cuts-these cuts will most likely drastically change the amount of federal dollars that are allocated to the states. Unfortunately for most states, dependence on federal funding has continually risen since 2008.
- View All New Jersey articles
Unions :
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HEADLINES
State pension reforms to result in more hybrid pension plans -- report
More states will create hybrid plans in the future because of the less-volatile contribution levels and the fact that the defined contribution components are portable for a workforce that is now increasingly more mobile, according to a new report.
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HEADLINES
Right To Work states still have less debt
Michigan, home to unions like the United Auto Workers, will become the 24th state to protect individual workers' rights through Right To Work legislation, giving workers the freedom to choose whether or not they wish to belong to an organized labor union. The other 23 states have lower debt than those without such laws.
- View All New Jersey articles
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Solutions:
How Reality-Based Budgeting Can Permanently Resolve State Budget Gaps
State Budget Solutions recommends that state legislators take action in 2013 to resolve the serious state financial crises by changing their focus from inputs to outcomes by redesigning budgets from the ground up based on priorities and performance.
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Solutions:
How to Prevent Future Pension Crises
The time for state and local governments to offer defined contribution retirement plans that protect both taxpayer dollars and public employee retirement security is now.
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Solutions:
State Lawmaker’s Guide to Evaluating Medicaid Expansion Projections
Supporters of Obamacare claim that expanding Medicaid will entail little to no cost to state governments, since the federal government will fund the vast majority of the additional costs. Indeed, some analyses project states achieving savings from adopting the expansion. However, state lawmakers should be wary of accepting such analyses at face value.
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Solutions:
Medicaid Is Broken—Let the States Fix It
Block-granting Medicaid is the best way to deliver better, cost-effective care to the most vulnerable Americans.
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Solutions:
The Case for Reform: Prisons
Prisons are supremely important, but they are also a supremely expensive government program, and thus prison systems must be held to the highest standards of accountability.
- View All Solutions
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Public Sector Pension Reform: Addressing Pressing Fiscal Realities from a Long-Term Perspective
There are persistent fiscal and demographic challenges in most states. The public sector workforce is aging as the baby boom cohort moves towards and into traditional retirement ages. Budgetary pressures at the state and local level make it difficult to increase plan funding and maintain the size of the public sector workforce.
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State pensions in America: Ruinous Promises
States cannot pretend to be in good financial health unless they tackle pensions.
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State pension reforms to result in more hybrid pension plans -- report
More states will create hybrid plans in the future because of the less-volatile contribution levels and the fact that the defined contribution components are portable for a workforce that is now increasingly more mobile, according to a new report.
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In face of massive unfunded liability, states still slow to pre-fund retiree healthcare benefits
The size of unfunded retiree healthcare liabilities varies widely by state. While some states have been making slow progress towards pre-funding these obligations, other have been contributing to them on a pay-as-you-go basis. As a result of the latter approach, combined unfunded liabilities are $425 billion under the most optimistic assumptions.
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BLOG
Discount rates and the fair-market valuation pension critique
At its core, the debate over how to properly fund public pension plans starts with how to accurately value liabilities so that governments can meet their obligations in the future.
- View All Pensions
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BLOG: K-12 Education, Federal Government Impact, Federal Government Impact
Common Core raises questions about government involvement, financial and otherwise, in local issues
Putting aside the merits or shortcomings of the Common Core, accepting national standards over which states have no control weakens the role that local officials have traditionally had in K-12 education.
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BLOG: Pensions
Discount rates and the fair-market valuation pension critique
At its core, the debate over how to properly fund public pension plans starts with how to accurately value liabilities so that governments can meet their obligations in the future.
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BLOG: Higher Education, Spending
Who is the highest paid state employee in your state?
Time to add a new diagram to the state budget and policy playbook--your state's highest paid employee is probably a football or basketball coach.
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BLOG: Medicaid
Medicaid expansion won't yield quality health care
The bombshell Oregon Medicaid study released this week should give all states pause as they consider plans to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. States must now ask what the point of Medicaid is in the first place.
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BLOG: Budget Gimmicks, Budget Processes and Systems, Measures to Balance Budgets, Spending, State Debt
Let's Put Privatizing Municipal Services Back on the Table
- View All Commentary
