THE LATEST: Twisted Sister’s anthem used to drown out top N.J. Democrat as he pitches plan on cutting pensions and health benefits

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney is threatening to wage a public battle over his plans to cut government employee pension and health care benefits in New Jersey if progressive Gov. Phil Murphy doesn’t play ball.

At a Statehouse news conference Thursday, Sweeney said he is introducing sweeping bills to reduce the cost of employee benefits legislative but is preparing a contingency plan to ask voters to amend the state Constitution and bypass Murphy, a fellow Democrat.

“We’re willing to work with the administration and others to craft legislation to go forward, but the time to act really is now, and we’re not going to be stonewalled by an administration either," Sweeney, D-Gloucester, said.

The announcement steps up the already hot debate between state lawmakers and the governor over Murphy’s plans to raise taxes on millionaires and rewrite the state’s economic development tax credit programs.

Sweeney announced Thursday he was introducing 27 bills that, he said, will collectively save New Jersey taxpayers billions of dollars a year and present a real chance to lower property taxes.

Other legislation the powerful Senate Democrat introduced would merge non-K-12 school districts regionally, fold school employees into the health plan for state workers, cap employee payouts for unused sick time, shift the responsibility for paying extraordinary special aid from districts to the state, and more.

Sweeney said he doesn’t expect to get all 27 bills through the Democratic-controlled state Legislature by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, but he intends to make a special push for pension and health care reforms, which will be among the most controversial and reignite a feud between Sweeney and public labor unions that is never quite dormant.

Sweeney would not say whether he’s targeting the November 2019 or 2020 ballot.

Hetty Rosenstein, the head of New Jersey’s largest public employee union, the Communications Workers of America, said Sweeney’s ultimatum threatens to “pit those who dedicate their entire lives to public service against the public. That is shameful. Just shameful."

By pursuing a constitutional amendment, Sweeney would circumvent Murphy, a frequent rival who has described labor’s collective bargaining rights as “sacred" and is likely to side with the public workforce. The Legislature has the power to put amendments on the ballot and the governor cannot stop that.

Murphy responded with a statement Thursday saying he prefers “partnership and collective bargaining rather than confrontation."

“Our problems, and pensions in particular, have been engrained by years of politicians putting short-term electoral gain before well-known and acknowledged long-term needs," the governor said. “I was elected to break this cycle, and I am no less determined to do so today than ever. I will carefully review the bills introduced today to see where we can find common ground, but the bottom line is that savings alone will not help us meet the entirety of our obligations.”

Sweeney has spent months pitching his so-called Path to Progress proposals around the state, calling for an “honest dialogue” around the high cost of government. Often, he’s been met by boos and jeers from public workers who feel under siege.

The most controversial proposals are those that would legislatively — or constitutionally — reduce health care and retirement benefits for public workers. These recommendations come less than a decade after Sweeney teamed with then-Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican to rein in pension and health care costs by raising the retirement age, freezing cost-of-living adjustments and increasing premiums.

Under Sweeney’s proposal, newer state employees, county and municipal employees and educators with fewer than five years of service would shift from a pure defined-benefits plan, in which they’re guaranteed a certain level of monthly benefits during retirement, to a plan that combines features of a pension and 401k.

These workers would receive a pension on their first $40,000 of income, while any income in excess of $40,000 would be enrolled into a 401k-style account managed by the state.

Unlike a 401k, however, public workers would be guaranteed at least a 4 percent return on their retirement savings. If the pension system posts higher returns, employees in the “cash balance” program would get 75 percent of what the pension experiences — and the state would use the other 25 percent to boost the pension system.

The Senate president’s office estimated the reforms would reduce the state’s pension contributions by $17.1 billion over 30 years and local governments’ contributions by $7.6 billion over 30 years.

This proposal also raises the retirement age for these workers from 65 to 67, and makes changes to the system’s assumed rate of return and amortization schedule.

New Jersey’s pension system is among the worst funded in the country. The Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund is just 59.3 percent funded, the Public Employees’ Retirement System is 59.8 percent funded, and the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System, 69.5 percent.

Sweeney has said this type of hybrid plan serves both taxpayers and public workers better than a traditional 401k because it provides a more reliable benefit while keeping employees’ contributions — equal to 7.5 percent of their pay — in the pension system, where they’re badly needed.

“A new pension plan is just common sense,” he said Thursday. “I don’t know why there’s such resistance in New Jersey.”

Rosenstein accused Sweeney of targeting the lowest-paid public workers who are more likely to be women and people of color, while sparing police, firefighter and judicial pensions.

The Senate president is also drafting a proposed constitutional amendment to shift all public employees’ health care plans from considered platinum under the Affordable Care Act to those considered gold. The “metal” designations indicate how much of the cost of care is paid by the insurer versus the insured. Under a gold plan, employees would pick up a greater share.

School districts, municipalities and counties must reduce their property tax levy by “every single dollar” saved, Sweeney said.

The New Jersey Education Association vowed to fight, saying in a statement that “New Jersey’s educators have already been pushed beyond the breaking point, with unsustainable health care costs and a pension that costs much more and delivers much less than what was promised to many of us when we entered this profession.

“Proposals that continue or exacerbate that terrible trend will be opposed. Proposals to further raise costs or slash benefits will irreparably harm our profession and our schools, and NJEA members will join as one to fight them.”

Other bills introduced Thursday would:

Fold the School Employees Health Benefits Plan into the State Health Benefits Pan and move county college employees and retirees into the State Health Benefits Plan.

Regionalize all of the state’s elementary and middle school districts into larger K-12 districts. The plan would consolidate a total of 278 school districts serving 303 municipalities.

Cap employees’ unused sick leave at $7,500.

Create a nine-year pilot program for five county-wide school districts.

Shift extraordinary special education costs to the state and rewrite the calculation for allocating special education costs.

Establish an Administrative Law unit to specialize in special education cases.

Require counties to hire a shared service coordinator and appropriates $2 million for that.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter@samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

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