Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson — who presided over the last fiery trial on the issue — has set a May hearing date for round two of the legal battle between New Jersey public labor unions and Gov. Chris Christie’s administration over whether the state must also make a full scheduled payment into an embattled public pension and benefit system for fiscal year 2016.
Jacobson announced yesterday that the state and the more than dozen union litigants must submit their briefings and responses by next month, and that oral arguments for the case are set for May 12.
Unions members bringing the new lawsuit against Christie — including the AFL-CIO, the NJEA, and the CWA — say they are hopeful they’ll have the same success this time around as they did last time, when Jacobson ruled in their favor that the state has a constitutional obligation to its public employees under the 2011 law and that Christie must make the FY 2015 payment that he reneged on in that year’s budget.
