Pension abuses hurt employees

Michael L. Diamond, with contributions from Paul D'Ambrosio and Nicholas Clunn, Eileen Smith and Peter Spencer of Gannett New Jersey newspapers reviewed the state's pension program, finding that "while the private sector has sharply cut pension and health insurance benefits, the state has gone the opposite way. New Jersey's system features generous payouts to retirees and is subject to abuse." Other employees hold multiple positions: using 2002 data, the papers found "at least $238 million was paid in salaries to 9,500 individuals holding 24,700 government jobs. That represents about 3 percent of the entire payroll in local, county and state government, excluding police, firefighters and teachers."