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 It was Christie's first major address to New Jerseyans since he
returned home after ending his run for the 2016 Republican
presidential nomination last week.
He thanked residents for that "great privilege."
"While the result was not what I had hoped for, and maybe some of
you too, the experience has made me a better governor, a better
American and it's made me a better person," he said.
Christie spent more than half of 2015 out of state, much of it
campaigning, and in a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll on Tuesday just 29
percent of registered New Jersey voters had a favorable opinion of
him, his lowest level yet.
Gone from Christie's address was the broad national tone that
dominated so many of his recent speeches. Instead he spoke, albeit
briefly, about the need to fund transportation projects, a key state
issue.
 Christie's spending plan, which he said was built on "fiscal
restraint," included $250 million in savings from yet-to-come cost
reductions in health benefits for public employees.
The cost cuts could come through required use of generic drugs and
increased co-pays, examples from a Treasury briefing for reporters
before Christie's address to lawmakers in the statehouse.
Christie's budget could find favor with Wall Street credit rating
agencies. Since he took office in January 2010, New Jersey has been
hit with nine downgrades in part because of overly optimistic
revenue projections and the use of non-recurring revenue sources.
The governor's latest spending plan addressed both issues, with
estimated revenue growth of just 3.1 percent. The proposed plan
overall is just 2.2 percent larger than the $34 billion of
appropriations for fiscal 2016, which ends on June 30.
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It also slashes reliance on one-shot revenues, to 0.7 percent of the
total budget from 2.9 percent this fiscal year.
The state's underfunded public pension system is another sore spot
for rating agencies. The governor proposed a $1.86 billion
contribution in 2017, the biggest amount ever for New Jersey, but
still less than half of what the state should be contributing to
keep the system healthy, according to actuaries.
Democrats, who control the legislature, said Christie skirted real
proposals for healthcare savings or transportation funding, which
they have said could be paid for with a state gasoline tax hike.
(Reporting by Hilary Russ; Editing by Alistair Bell and Tom Brown)
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