N.J. Gov.-elect Christie blasts Democrats for lame-duck actions

By Claire Heininger/Statehouse Bureau

January 06, 2010, 6:39PM

NEWARK -- With two weeks left until he takes office, Gov.-elect Chris Christie isn't exactly thrilled with how Democrats are rolling out the welcome mat.

Christie today ripped into ruling Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Jon Corzine for a litany of moves during the lame-duck legislative session, accusing them of tying his hands in a fiscal crisis. Among his concerns are bills that would legalize in-state college tuition rates for undocumented immigrants, reform prisoner re-entry programs, and allow towns to defer pension payments, as well as what he called "discretionary" spending by the Corzine administration.

Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerState Gov.-elect Chris Christie at a news conference at the Statehouse in this December 2009 file photo.

"They continue to pursue the old Trenton ways. Those old Trenton ways have to be over. That's what people voted for on Nov. 3," Christie said during a wide-ranging news conference in Newark, after introducing Charles McKenna as his director of homeland security.

"We can't do it. We're broke...The governor and members of the Legislature who are pushing these type of bills are hurting the state's economy and are hurting our ability to be able to come forward with a balanced, responsible budget," he said.

Elected on a platform of smaller government, Christie has said he will face a deficit of up to $9.5 billion in his first budget after he's sworn in Jan 19. While the Republican governor-elect was careful to say that some Democrats agree with him on the need for spending restraint, "some have not gotten the message."

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Democrats said it's Christie who's out of line.

"The Legislature and its members are just as aware of the state of the state, as much as or more so than the incoming governor," said Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer), sponsor of the prisoner reform bills, which she said have been narrowed so they will not cost the state anything for the first two years. Christie said they would cost "in excess" of $10 million.

"This is about governance, and he needs to pay attention to the substance," Watson Coleman said. "The world is not going to stand still between now and Jan. 19. Neither is the state."

Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) defended the agenda in the upper house, and pointed out that thebill to allow towns to skip pension payments lacks the support to go forward.

"Before he criticizes any of them, he should wait and see whether or not they pass," Codey said. "But in any event, he's entitled to his opinion, which he has no problem sharing."

Codey said that Christie "was elected. He's entitled to the bully pulpit. I think it makes good politics, and most importantly, the national recession is not the Legislature's fault, Mr. Christie's fault or Mr. Corzine's fault."

Christie also criticized "discretionary" state spending such as extraordinary aid to strapped towns, which Corzine had frozen at Christie's request. Last month, however, Corzine reversed course and released the aid as part of $839 million in spending cuts and other adjustments to the current budget, which now stands at $28.6 billion. The same day, it was revealed that Christie had asked departments to prepare spending cuts ranging from 15 to 25 percent.

Treasury spokesman Tom Bell pointed out that Corzine also increased the surplus "by 10 percent, to $550 million, to give the incoming administration an additional cushion for the remainder of the fiscal year."

"The Corzine administration has worked extremely hard through the national economic crisis to meet the requirement of maintaining a balanced budget while also dealing with a fall-off in revenue and the greater demand for safety net services," Bell said. "There has been no new spending that was not authorized under the budget that was signed in June and modified last month."

Christie also disagreed with pending bills to increase aid to vocational schools in Essex, Hudson and Passaic counties; to allow collective bargaining for deputy attorneys general and child care and community care; to end state control of Camden but require special aid to flow into the city; to extend prevailing wage requirements on some state projects; and to reduce by two the number of appointments by the governor to the Capital City Redevelopment Corporation. All would hurt the state financially or restrict his authority, he said.

"Over and over again, we're seeing this in the lame-duck session," Christie said. "This isn't about trading anymore. This is a crisis."