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The President’s Message
NEW JERSEY COPS ■ AUGUST 2014
Here we go again!
Executive Order No. 161 was hand delivered by the governor Aug. 1
on the steps of the Parsippany Municipal building at 1 p.m. In effect,
it officially forms the non-partisan “New Jersey Pension and Health
Benefit Study Commission,” hereinafter known as the “Study Commission.” Thirty days after organizing, the commission is required to
deliver a status report and will issue a report on its findings and recommendations “as soon as possible.”
NEW JERSEY STATE
POLICEMEN’S BENEVOLENT
ASSOCIATION
EXECUTIVE BOARD
PATRICK COLLIGAN
State President
MARC KOVAR
Executive Vice-President
Patrick
Colligan
1.
Chapter 78 (a law as defined by the Constitution) was signed on June 11, 2008
by Gov. Christie requiring in very specific terms how he must fund the pension.
FINDINGS: Please advise Gov. Christie to comply with the law that he signed.
2.
Chapter 78 required an additional 1½-percent contribution of PFRS employees
to the system for a total of 10-percent employee contributions (probably the
highest in the nation). It generated another $57 million. In March, the governor
gave more than $50 million back to local governments and called it “tax relief”.
FINDINGS: That’s our money. We earned it and it was deducted from our paychecks. Please put it back into the PFRS system.
3.
Want to explore a “Hybrid Pension System?” Similar to a 401K, “Hybrid Pensions” have to be paid by the state with each and every paycheck. FINDINGS:
The state doesn’t pay its pension bills now with a signed law in place! Who do we
call when the Hybrid payments aren't made every two weeks? Can I tell my members that at least I got a pinkie swear?
4.
New Jersey now ranks second in the country for investments in high-risk, highfee hedge funds in their state pension funds. Well-known political donors and
high priced "investment advisors" are raking in $1.2 billion in fees and commissions. FINDINGS: $1.2 billion performs better in our portfolio than in a millionaire’s bank account and those high- risk hedge funds are returning lower
yields than traditional investments that don't pad donor’s pockets.
5.
In 2005, Acting Governor Richard Codey formed a Benefits Review Task Force
to try and resolve the unfunded pension issues. The task force subsequently
released a comprehensive document called the Murphy Report. Anybody care
to guess what was suggestion No. 1? For the state to start “paying up and ending the gimmicks.” That Murphy strikes me as a pretty smart guy. FINDINGS:
The "Study Commission" should find that Murphy Report, photocopy it and call
it the “2014 New Jersey Pension and Health Benefit Study Commission.” Your work
was done already in 2005. No need to reinvent the wheel folks.
6.
Last month, the governor's office released a "No Pain, No Gain" movie trailer
that shamefully mocked every hard-working public employee in the state (the
ones that have made every single payment into the pension). That movie trailer wasn't cobbled together in a few minutes on a laptop. It took a lot of time and
state resources. FINDINGS: Somebody has too much free time and lots of extra
money in their budget. Immediately transfer them to the New Jersey Economic
Development Authority or the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
The last time I looked at the governor's performance numbers, I think those two
departments could definitely use the help. The new "Study Commission" could
probably use their creativity too.
7.
The public pensions throughout the country that are performing the best are
truly run by their membership. Investments are made by a committee with their
skin in the game. ALL their skin! New Jersey has an Investment Council with very
Mark Butler 1st Vice-President
Peter Andreyev 2nd Vice-President
Jerry Tolomeo 3rd Vice-President
Andy Haase 4th Vice-President
Henry Werner 5th Vice-President
Kenneth Burkert 6th Vice-President
Michael Pellegrino 7th Vice-President
Domenic Cappella 8th Vice-President
Mark Aurigemma 9th Vice-President
Michael Kaniuk 10th Vice-President
Manuel Corte 11th Vice-President
Mark Messenger 12th Vice-President
Wayne K. Hall Financial Secretary
George Miller Recording Secretary
John Monsees Treasurer
Eugene Dello Trustee
James Crilly Trustee
Keith Bennett Trustee
Richard Kott Trustee
Richard Brown Trustee
Bruce Chester Trustee
Margaret Hammond Trustee
Frederick Ludd Sergeant-at-Arms
Luke Sciallo Sergeant-at-Arms
Frank Cipully Sergeant-at-Arms
John Cernek Sergeant-at-Arms
Kevin Hibbitt Sergeant-at-Arms
Michael McLaughlin Sergeant-at-Arms
Rich Geib Sergeant-at-Arms
Ed Carattini Sergeant-at-Arms
Michael Freeman Sergeant-at-Arms
Bryan Flannia Sergeant-at-Arms
It is now Friday afternoon at 2:47 p.m. at the State PBA Office in
Woodbridge. The office will observe our summer hours and be closing in 13 minutes. I have just officially commissioned myself (with 13
minutes to go) to issue my own findings and recommendations. If the
"Study Commission" wants a cheat sheet, here it is: