TRENTON — Sen. Diane Allen, (R-7), Edgewater Park, submitted today the upper-chamber version of the resolution to allow voters to decide whether to amend the New Jersey Constitution to apply pension and benefits reforms to members of the Judiciary.
On the day that the state Supreme Court said it would hear the appeal of the pension/benefits reform measure as it applies to judges, Allen said in a release: “As I’ve said from the beginning, if the Court’s interpretation of the state Constitution prohibits the reforms we passed to save the pension system from applying to judges, then the Constitution needs to be changed.”
“It is not too much to ask that the Judiciary pays its fair share toward retirement benefits and healthcare costs just like every other public worker, especially since judges by far have the most lavish benefits of any other public employee.”
Allen’s resolution clarifies that pensions and benefits fall outside of the state Constitution’s prohibition on making Legislative changes to judicial salaries for sitting justices.
The Assembly version was introduced by GOP members as well today.
Earlier story:
GOP introduces referendum bill for constitutional amendment
