Jurisdiction filing in N.J. pension battle

Lawyers for Gov. Christie's administration argued Thursday that a state court lacks the authority to order the governor to propose a larger contribution to the public worker pension system.

The filing with Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson is in response to a lawsuit by public sector unions, which want the state to comply with a 2011 law that established a schedule of escalating contributions.

Christie has proposed a $1.3 billion payment for the fiscal year beginning July 1. To comply with the 2011 law, the payment would have to be more than $3 billion.

Christie - who reduced scheduled payments last fiscal year and in the current fiscal year to cover a revenue shortfall - has argued that the state cannot afford larger payments. He has been pushing for more changes to public worker benefits, including reductions in health benefits.

In Thursday's filing, lawyers with the Attorney General's Office said the judiciary did not have the authority to compel Christie to recommend an appropriation. They also said workers' contractual rights had not been impaired, since the Legislature had yet to act on Christie's 2016 budget proposal.

While Jacobson, citing a "staggering" revenue shortfall, allowed the cut to last year's payment, she sided with unions regarding the payment for the current year. She ruled that workers' contractual rights were impaired by the cut Christie signed into law, scaling back the pension payment from $2.25 billion to $681 million.

The state Supreme Court is to hear oral arguments on that case in May.