FY 2022 state budget investment in the pension system is $6.4 billion
Gov. Phil Murphy’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 budget proposes the first full actuarially determined contribution (ADC) pension payment since 1996. In the ninth year of a 10-year ramp up to the state’s full pension contribution, the state was due to pay 90% of the ADC in FY 2022 with the first 100% contribution in FY 2023.
The recommended contribution, including contributions from the State lottery, totals approximately $6.4 billion. Starting to make the full payment will save New Jersey taxpayers $861 million over the next 30 years.
The budget also makes significant allocations for state aid to public education from pre-kindergarten through higher education.
“We applaud Gov. Murphy’s strong, progressive budget,” said NJEA officers, President Marie Blistan, Vice President Sean M. Spiller and Secretary-Treasurer Steve Beatty in a joint statement. “It prioritizes support for students, helps New Jersey families and keeps the promises the state made to the educators who make our schools the best in the nation. In a time of unprecedented challenges, this budget points to a brighter future for our children and for all New Jersey residents.”
The proposed FY 2022 budget makes good on the governor’s promise to public employees by including an additional $1.6 billion to meet the goal of a full state pension contribution a year earlier than initially planned.
The combined pension contributions by the Murphy administration in four years will roughly total an unprecedented $18 billion, which is $9.4 billion more than the prior governor contributed over two terms.
“The pension funding is certainly welcome news to public employees, who have made their full required contributions every one of those 25 years and who deserve the pensions they have earned through their careers of service to our state,” the officers said.