Bill > A2421

Introduced Session

This bill amends and supplements the FY 2016 appropriations act to transfer the appropriation for preschool education aid to the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF). By virtue of this transfer, the State's contribution to that pension system will be increased by $655.5 million, or 40 percent, to a total of nearly $2.294 billion. Article VIII, section IV, paragraph 1 of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey stipulates that the Legislature will provide for "... the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of free public schools for the instruction of all the children in the State between the ages of five and eighteen years." The provision of full-day preschool education to three- and four-year old children exceeds the Legislature's constitutional responsibilities, and is simply unaffordable given the State's current budget realities. In Abbott v. Burke, 153 N.J. 180 (1998) (Abbott V), the New Jersey Supreme Court declared that the provision of full-day kindergarten for five-year olds was an essential part of a thorough and efficient education for Abbott districts. The Court then noted that since the State also recognized the benefits provided by the provision of preschool programs, the State should provide half-day preschool in the Abbott districts for three- and four-year olds. This has since been expanded to full-day preschool in certain school districts. At the time, the Court specifically declined to rule that the provision of preschool was a constitutional requirement under the "thorough and efficient" language of Article VIII, section IV, paragraph 1 of the State's constitution. To date, the Supreme Court has never ruled that the provision of preschool for three- and four-year olds is a constitutional requirement under Article VIII, section IV, paragraph 1, which by its explicit terms applies to children between five and 18 years of age. Currently, the State funds full-day preschool in certain school districts at a cost to the State's taxpayers of over $655 million. At the time that the Court decided Abbott V and the State began to fund preschool in certain districts, the State was in the midst of an unprecedented economic expansion. During that time, the State's public employee pension systems were doing so well that the State skipped payments into the pension systems. Today, New Jersey is in the midst of an economic crisis, requiring the legislative and executive branches to make exceedingly difficult decisions on budget priorities. As recently noted by our Supreme Court in Burgos v. State of New Jersey, (A-55-14), decided June 15, 2015, the State must get its financial house in order. One of those compelling needs is the State's responsibility to honor its compensation commitment to retired public employees. The Court specifically determined that deciding budgetary priorities in the face of competing and worthwhile demands, within the limits of available funds, is essentially a decision for the political branches of government, and not the judicial branch. As noted by the Supreme Court in Burgos, "The determination to prioritize one appropriation decision above another is best left to the marketplace evaluators and the electorate, to whom the state must answer on such comparative evaluations of fiscal priorities." The Judicial Branch cannot exercise authority that is exclusively granted to the political branches under our State constitution. In the absence of a constitutional mandate to fund preschool education for three- and four-year olds, it is necessary and appropriate to utilize this $655 million to help the State meet its contractual obligations to current and retired public employees.

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Greg McGuckin (R)*,  David Wolfe (R)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee (on 02/04/2016)