New Jersey credit rating cut for 11th time under Christie
Source: Reuters
Mon Mar 27, 2017 | 5:54pm EDT
By Hilary Russ | NEW YORK
New Jersey's credit rating was cut on Monday, affecting $37 billion of debt, the 11th time Wall Street has downgraded the state's bonds since Governor Chris Christie took office in January 2010.
Persistent underfunding of the state's public pension system and weak budgetary position contributed to the rating cut. So did the $1.1 billion of annual revenues the state will lose by 2021 because of sales and estate tax cuts passed last year in conjunction with a gasoline tax hike, Moody's Investors Service said.
Christie, once a Republican presidential candidate, will leave office at the end of the year when his second term expires. His fiscal 2018 budget proposal last month included a $2.5 billion contribution to the state's retirement system for public employees, a $647 million increase from this year.
Moody's said the bigger contributions under Christie were still not meeting actuarial recommendations and unfunded liabilities were mounting.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-jersey-downgrade-moody-s-idUSKBN16Y2LF
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