New Jersey Senate panel approves pension reforms; Whelan tells teachers times have changed

Juliet Fletcher:

As Trenton lawmakers gave first approval Thursday to a group of bills to reform the state's public-worker pension and benefits systems, Sen. Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic, tackled the teachers unions, telling them their case for strong state pensions was out-of-date.

Shortly before committee members voted to approve three bills and a constitutional resolution, Whelan, who teaches in the Atlantic City school district, told hundreds of assembled public workers -- including dozens of teachers -- that state workers should no longer claim they needed large pensions to make up for low pay.

"I'm of a generation that that was true for," Whelan said at a hearing of the Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee that he chairs.
"Quite bluntly, when I began teaching -- almost 100 years ago, not quite -- we made lousy money, and you were always going to make lousy money. That was true whether you were a teacher, a cop, a fireman, any public employees across the board. We were underpaid," he said.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at February 23, 2010 1:51 AM
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