TRENTON — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he and lawmakers are close to an agreement on ending huge payouts to retiring public employees for unused sick days. But the GOP governor says he won't accept a deal that allows for any payouts going forward. Republicans and Democrats agree that cash-outs that can total hundreds of thousands of dollars...
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Gov. Chris Christie holds a town meeting at in this 2011 file photo.TRENTON — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he and lawmakers are close to an agreement on ending huge payouts to retiring public employees for unused sick days.
But the GOP governor says he won't accept a deal that allows for any payouts going forward.
Republicans and Democrats agree that cash-outs that can total hundreds of thousands of dollars strain local budgets. They differ on how to best fix the problem.
Christie conditionally vetoed a bill in December that would have capped the amount of accumulated sick leave employees can cash out from here on at $15,000.
Related coverage:
• Gov. Christie rules out any tax increases in Evesham town hall meeting
• Sen. Kean Jr. pushes for another vote on ending payouts to N.J. employees for unused sick days
• N.J. Turnpike Authority paid employees $9.7M extra in unused sick days, overtime pay
• N.J. Senate committee approves unused sick, vacation time limits for public workers
• N.J. bill places cap, restrictions on retirement payouts for current public employees
• Concern over future sparks spike in retirement of N.J. workers
