Gov. Phil Murphy is pledging a full payment to New Jersey’s troubled public employee pension system for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century, a proposed $6.4 billion infusion that Murphy is hailing as a symbol of the state’s fiscal resilience amid the second year of the coronavirus pandemic.
The payment would make up nearly 15% of the $44.8 billion proposed spending plan Murphy unveiled Tuesday during a livestreamed address.
Because governors of both political parties failed to set aside the state s full contribution each year for public employee pensions, New Jersey lost out on investment gains and the amount the state owed its workers ballooned exorbitantly.
While the private sector is held to a higher standard, rules from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board have enabled Illinois to engage in reckless financial practices that harm taxpayers and the state’s economy.
WBGZ Radio 2/19/2021 |
By Kevin Bessler - Illinois Radio Network
A nonpartisan think tank is taking issue with the way state and local governments present their budgets.
The Illinois-based Truth in Accounting is opposed to governments using cash-based accounting, so budgets that appear balanced are anything but.
With cash-based accounting, financial reports show expenses only when money is paid, not when debt or future expenses are incurred. The organization is demanding that state and local governments institute full accrual calculations and techniques, or FACT-based accounting.
CEO and founder Sheila Weinberg said borrowing money is not a way to reduce a deficit.
Normal, IL, USA / www.cities929.com
Feb 17, 2021 10:52 AM
(The Center Square) – A nonpartisan think tank is taking issue with the way state and local governments present their budgets.
The Illinois-based Truth in Accounting is opposed to governments using cash-based accounting, so budgets that appear balanced are anything but.
With cash-based accounting, financial reports show expenses only when money is paid, not when debt or future expenses are incurred. The organization is demanding that state and local governments institute full accrual calculations and techniques, or FACT-based accounting.
CEO and founder Sheila Weinberg said borrowing money is not a way to reduce a deficit.