New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has signed a fiscal year 2024 budget that includes a $7.1 billion contribution to the state pension system, the third consecutive fiscal year in which the state has made the full actuarially determined contribution.
The budget law took effect for the fiscal year that started July 1.
Mr. Murphy signed the budget into law Friday night, only a few hours before the deadline mandated by state constitution that new fiscal-year budgets must be enacted before the conclusion of the preceding fiscal year.
Earlier in the day Friday, the General Assembly and State Senate, both controlled by Democrats, voted to approve the budget. Mr. Murphy is a Democrat.
The $7.1 billion contribution is a combination of state revenues and proceeds from the state lottery, which has been an asset of the pension system funding for several years.
The state counts on the lottery to produce about $1 billion each fiscal year. For the 11 months through May 31, lottery revenue was $1.04 billion, up 5.7% from the year-ago period.
The New Jersey Pension Fund, Trenton, had assets of $91.6 billion as of April 30, according to the latest available data.
