Christie Opposes Democrats' Pension Proposal in Budget Address

In his first public appearance since suspending his White House run last week, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie offered thanks to his home state. In the opening moments of his 2017 budget address, Christie reflected on his failed bid for the presidency.

"While the result was not what I had hoped for...the experience has made me a better governor," Christie said. "It's made me a better American, and it's made me a better person."

The Governor said he owes his personal growth to New Jersey residents, and that he intends to use it to deal with issues affecting the Garden State in the final two years of his term.

Christie is proposing a $34.8 billion budget with no new tax increases and no tax cuts for the fiscal year that begins on July 1st. The budget increases funding for the state's public employee pension fund. He had slashed the state's payments by hundreds of millions of dollars the past two years due to consecutive budget shortfalls.

However, Christie took time to blast a proposal from Democratic State President Steve Sweeney to amend the state constitution in order to make quarterly payments into the public pension fund mandatory. Christie said the proposed amendment would put the brakes on a recovering state economy.

"Approval of this amendment would place government workers ahead of students, ahead of our hospitals, ahead of the disabled, and ahead of our seniors," Christie said. "And the burden of the cost would be put on the back of taxpayers."

Notably, the budget did not include a fix for the state's troubled transportation funding. The Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) is set to run out of money at the end of June, but Christie said there's still plenty of time to strike a deal with Democrats.

Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto has led the charge for a gas tax increase in order to bolster the state's transportation funding, but Christie says he won't raise the gas tax without equivalent cuts to other state taxes. Republicans have proposed changing or eliminating the state's estate or inheritance taxes in exchange for a hike in the gas tax.

With the Associated Press