A teacher earning $60,000 now pays $900 a year toward a plan that costs $22,000, Christie said. Under his proposal, that teacher would contribute $7,333 a year for an identical plan.
PARAMUS — Gov. Chris Christie proposed significantly higher health insurance premiums for hundreds of thousands of public workers in New Jersey today, saying overly generous benefits are threatening to bankrupt the system.
Christie told a packed town hall audience in Bergen County that state and local workers, teachers, police and firefighters must begin paying more for their medical and dental benefits if the system is to remain afloat. The health benefits fund is $67 billion shy of meeting its eventual obligations.
"We have to have a plan where everybody has skin in the game," Christie said to applause from a supportive crowd of 500 in Paramus.
Christie hosted his first town hall meeting with voters since unveiling his agenda for the coming year on Tuesday. He said changes in health and pension benefits, and overhauling teacher tenure are top priorities.
Christie wants benefits changes that make the health insurance system more like the private sector or the federal government, with employees paying about one-third of the costs of whatever benefits plan they choose. The government picks up the other two-thirds.
That would amount to a significant increase from the 1.5 percent of salary employees now pay. A teacher earning $60,000 now pays $900 a year toward a plan that costs $22,000, Christie said. Under his proposal, that teacher would contribute $7,333 a year for an identical plan.
The changes also could result in inferior benefits, as some workers would be forced to accept plans with higher deductibles and co-pays or limited choice of doctors, to keep down costs.
Christie said health benefits for current workers and retirees cost New Jersey taxpayers $4.3 billion a year and growing. He said the state cannot afford to have worker benefits eating a larger and larger portion of state, local and school budgets.
The governor also renewed his call for changes to the pension system that include raising the retirement age to 65, from 62, rolling back a 9 percent pension increase granted a decade ago and requiring all workers to contribute 8.5 percent of their salaries toward retirement, a higher portion than all but police and firefighters pay now.
Christie said adopting major changes to the pension system this year would cut the funds' $34 billion unfunded liability in half in 30 years.
He said his proposals "introduce fairness and shared sacrifice in these tough economic times."
Christie called on the Legislature to act before recessing in July. But it is unclear how far Democrats who control the Senate and Assembly — and the legislative agenda — will be willing to go amid opposition from the unions, which are major constituencies, in an election year.
Christie said he is proposing the changes to shore up the health and pension systems, not just to be tightfisted. He said the changes are part of his long-term plan to reduce state debt and introduce more fiscal responsibility to stabilize property tax growth.
The Legislature enacted some pension and health benefits reforms last March, but those affect new workers, not the existing work force and retirees.
Despite a new 2 percent cap on property tax increases, New Jerseyans are likely to see their property taxes continue to rise at a rate that exceeds 2 percent. A look at property taxation around the state by The Star-Ledger published today shows local taxes jumped 7 percent last year. Less than 25 percent of taxpayers saw increases of under 2 percent, the analysis showed.
The governor also beat the drum today for major education changes that include scrapping teacher tenure, creating a merit-pay system, introducing school choice, adding charter schools and closing poor-performing schools.
"This is the fight," he said, referencing his ongoing battle with the state teachers union, which opposes most of his proposals.