Dustin Racioppi

State House Bureau, @dracioppi

Gov. Chris Christie said Monday reforms to the state's beleaguered public employee pension system are back on the table, with a package of proposals being discussed with all but one of the state's unions — the large and influential New Jersey Education Association.

The teachers and Christie had a falling out after the the governor announced an "unprecedented accord" two years ago. The NJEA said that reform plan was misrepresented to the public by Christie and the union backed away from its alliance with the governor and instead focused on suing him.

On Monday, Christie told reporters that he "doesn't necessarily know" that the teachers union is essential to potential reforms in his final year in office. Meanwhile, other unions have been meeting with the administration to provide input on what Christie anticipates will be a package of pension proposals to bring to the Legislature in early May. Those discussions have revolved around a plan Christie floated in his February budget address to move lottery revenues into the pension system, a move he contends would cut down the pension fund's massive unfunded liability while lowering the state's annual contribution requirement.

"We're getting their input, as well, and their reactions because we're going to ask them in return also for some reforms to make the system more stable," Christie said.

At least one union, the Communications Workers of America, had a different version of the discussions.

"The Christie administration shared some information with us about the lottery. So far that’s all that happened. There was nothing discussed at all about further pension cuts or health care reform when it comes to the lottery. And, no, there won’t be a discussion when it comes to that," state director Hetty Rosenstein said in a statement.

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Christie did not elaborate on what future reforms he may be planning, only saying they are "future-looking." He leaves office in January.

"It's the last step that we're going to be able to take, in terms of long-term fiscal stability for the state," Christie said. "If the pension can be taken care of, then we'll hand off the state to the next governor in a much, much better fiscal condition than it was when we got it."

Christie and the Democratic Legislature made a series of changes to the pension system early in his first term, but amid financial struggles Christie went back on the state's end of the bargain by slashing contributions to the retiree fund. That sowed ill will among public-sector unions, which took Christie to court, but it also increased the pension system's unfunded liability, which is the largest in the nation.

During his budget address in 2015, Christie announced that he had reached an "unprecedented accord" with the teachers union to implement further reforms to help the fund's solvency, and that he hoped the relationship would prompt other unions to work with the administration. But that teachers union walked away from the accord two months later, and the relationship between the two sides has been bitter since. No other changes have been made to the system, and the Christie administration has not made a full contribution in years, although he has put more into the system than any recent governor.

Christie dismissed the union on Monday as "disjointed" and too self-involved to be part of the discussions for more reforms.

"Maybe they’re too busy counting their money and they don’t have time for this, I don’t know, but we’re happy to meet with them anytime they want," he said.

Steve Baker, a spokesman for the teachers union, did not respond to the governor's dig, but said that "nobody from the governor's office has reached out at any time" since he proposed the lottery pension plan in February. "We have not seen the first bit of detail beyond that," Baker said, adding that he anticipates the union will "be engaged in the process when there is a proposal."