The plan threatens to derail one of Christie’s signature accomplishments in Trenton: a major revision to replenish New Jersey’s strained pension fund over the long term.
But it would solve an immediate crisis for the governor, who has to find more than $2 billion somewhere to cover budget shortfalls for the current and incoming fiscal years.
At a Statehouse news conference, the Republican governor said he plans to take $2.43 billion budgeted for the pension fund during this fiscal year and the next one to balance his budgets. He ruled out alternatives such as raising the state income tax or cutting funds for schools and Medicaid.
