Christie's legal back flip on pensions: Editorial

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/09/christies_legal_back_flip_on_pensions_editorial.html#incart_river_politics



Governor Chris Christie appears with Parsippany Mayor James Barberio in front of Parsippany Town Hall where Christie announced he was introducing a commission to repairs his botched pension reform.

Christie's legal back flip on pensions: Editorial
By Star-Ledger Editorial Board
on September 03, 2014 at 9:00 PM, updated September 04, 2014 at 6:25 AM

Gov. Chris Christie signed the pension reform law in 2011, calling it a landmark achievement that showed what his brand of bold leadership could accomplish.

But now that the bill has come due, he is in court calling that same reform unconstitutional.

The core legal claim is that one Legislature cannot oblige the next Legislature to spend money. So while the 2011 legislation spelled out the state’s obligation to make payments over several years, the 2014 Legislature has no legal obligation to make good on those promises.

The idea is to guard against overreach. If one Legislature believes it’s important to build railroads, for example, it can’t compel a future Legislature to go along with that policy.