QOD: N.J.’s Pension Fix Requires Both Benefits Cuts and Tax Increases

The Star-Ledger Editorial Board does the math in the context of the “dangerous partisan stalemate” regarding strategies to resuscitate N.J.’s pension fund, currently operating with a $40 billion debt and a life expectancy of 12 years:

[T]he hard reality is that the problem can’t be fixed without a new round of cuts in both pension and health benefits. Without a course correction, those exploding costs will absorb 23 percent of the budget within a few years — roughly double the portion today, according to the reform commission. 

This math is unforgiving. We need both benefit cuts and tax increases to stop the bleeding.