Judge rules Gov. Chris Christie broke state law by not making full pension payments

[Sherman A1]

Problems keep mounting for GOP presidential hopeful Chris Christie. Rivals of the New Jersey governor are poaching some of his homegrown fundraisers, his recent trip to London to burnish his foreign policy credentials was less than dandy, and on Monday, a New Jersey judge landed a blow to the heart of Christie’s political brand: his tough stance against government spending and public employee unions.

New Jersey Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson ruled in favor of the unions that sued Christie, saying that his failure to make full payments to their pension system violated the state’s constitutional obligation to workers. She also ordered Christie to work with the legislature to satisfy the state’s obligation.

The decision came after Christie pushed unions into an agreement that required public employees to sharply increase the amount of money they contribute to their pensions. In exchange, the state promised to increase its contributions to the state’s underfunded retirement system.

The 2011 agreement helped catapult Christie to national attention for his determined stance against what he described as generous public employee benefits that were crippling New Jersey’s finances and contributing to the state’s high taxes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/judge-deals-a-big-setback-to-chris-christie-in-his-fight-against-unions/2015/02/23/f6f2c636-bbae-11e4-b274-e5209a3bc9a9_story.html