Former Ambassador to Germany Phil Murphy took to Twitter Thursday morning to share his thoughts on the pension amendment that has put Senate President Steve Sweeney at odds with the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP).
NJ's pension obligations must be honored. My position on amendment is same as it was in 2005: Yes. Needed now even more than before. -PM
— Phil Murphy (@PhilMurphy) August 4, 2016
Murphy’s tweet read: “NJ’s pension obligations must be honored. My position on amendment is same as it was in 2005: Yes. Needed now even more than before.”
PolitickerNJ also reached out to Murphy spokesman Derek Roseman about Murphy’s position. Roseman said: “Phil supports both the proposed amendment and its immediate passage. He has been consistent since he chaired the first task force on pensions in 2005 that the state must honor its obligations and be held constitutionally responsible to do so.”
While Murphy is the only Democratic candidate to formally announce his gubernatorial run thus far, his stance on pensions puts him at odds with Sweeney, another likely candidate in the Democratic primary for governor. Sweeney has said that, because the state is currently funding pensions and because of the uncertainty with the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF), the pension amendment can wait until next year. Both the NJEA and FOP fired back at Sweeney for his reversal claiming that they would withhold campaign contributions until the pension amendment was posted for a vote. Sweeney then called on U.S Attorney Paul J. Fishman and N.J. Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino to investigate the NJEA and FOP for those claims.
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop–another possible 2017 candidate–also issued a statement on Wednesday about the ordeal.
