On January 11, the last day of the 2015 Legislative session, the New Jersey Legislature approved resolutions (SCR-184/ACR-3) to place a constitutional amendment before the voters on the ballot in November requiring the state to fulfill its obligation to make full payments into the pension system, protecting the benefits earned by workers.

The Senate passed the pension amendmentresolution 23-16 along party-lines with every Democrat voting in favor of responsiblepension funding and every Republican voting against it. The NJ Assembly passed the resolution with a vote of 43-27 with one abstention.

The pension funding amendment calls for the state to make the annual required contribution on a quarterly basis instead of on the last day of the fiscal year. Quarterly pension payments would add millions more into thepension fund by allowing the pension investment to earn interest over the course of the year, saving New Jersey taxpayers $13 billion over the next 30 years.

Last week, CWA testified at two public hearings held before an Assembly and Senate committees urging legislators to approve the amendment. Read excerpts from CWA’s testimony here.

The next step is for the proposed amendment to be approved by the Legislature again in the 2016 Legislative session which begins today.