Union City Mayor Brian Stack welcomed “ally and friend” Gov. Christopher Christie to speak about his reform agenda before a packed room of 600 area residents Wednesday morning at the Bruce Walter Recreation Center.
Introduced by Stack as “the greatest governor this state has ever had,” Christie took the floor to speak about his last year as governor and the long road to fiscal stability, and later, to address residents’ concerns and questions.
“We’ve all had to cut back and think, ‘what can’t I spend anymore?’ ” – Gov. Christie
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Redistricting and Stack
It may be in Stack’s interest to keep Christie as an ally, since the new Census numbers mean that the boundaries of the 33rd District represented by Stack will change. A state committee is scheduled to vote on the redistricting this weekend, and Christie may have some influence over the Republican committee members and the judge involved in the decision. It will be known by the end of the weekend whether the changes give Stack more influence.
‘Turning Trenton upside down’
In his speech on Wednesday, Christie said that New Jersey has been hit hard by political corruption and scandal, an “economy going down the toilet,” and a dearth of new private sector jobs.
To remedy the situation, he said, it’s important to compare the state’s finances to household finances.
“We’ve all had to cut back and think, ‘What can’t I spend anymore?” he said. “You need someone who says the same thing in government in Trenton.”
An example of New Jersey’s new “fiscal stiff spine” was seen with Christie’s decision to cancel the $8.7 billion Hudson Rail ARC train tunnel to Manhattan after cost overruns from $2 to $5 billion were projected, with New Jersey funding the bulk of the project.
“New Jersey was the patsy that was going to pick up that entire tab,” he said. “I’m not sticking you with the bill and walking away.”
The cancellation, he said, was justified Monday when Amtrak announced plans for a new $13.5 billion Trans-Hudson tunnel called the “Gateway Project,” which will follow almost the exact same path as the ARC tunnel into New York.
“As plans become clearer, if they want New Jersey to become a partner, I’ll consider a fair deal,” he said.
Healthcare reform
According to Christie, New Jersey is one of 11 states whose pension funds are in danger of having no funding by the year 2020.
The governor said that the system needs to be reformed, even if the reforms prove unpopular.
“I am doing this because I want to save public pensions, not eliminate them,” he said.
During the Q-and-A portion, a Union City employee voiced his 100-percent support of this notion, stating, “I’m eons away from retiring [at the raised retirement age from 62 to 65]. We need reform.”
Christie also discussed his move to align the state’s healthcare system with the healthcare that federal employees get. In the state system, state employees pay the same amount of money for a variety of offered insurances, without regard to which is better. Under the federal system, public employees pay 34 percent of the insurance’s premiums, so if an individual wants a better plan, he pays for it.
According to Christie, $4.3 billion of the state’s $29 billion budget is spent at the state level on employee health insurance.
“It’s eating away at other things we want to spend money on,” he said.
Christie also addressed the contentious topic of education reform, which has not been well received by teachers’ unions and some in the education system. He said that the current system treats good teachers and poor performers the same.
During the Q-and-A portion, a representative of Miftaahul Uloom Academy in Union City asked Christie about education vouchers for its students. Parents would be reimbursed for a portion of a school’s tuition by the government if the parents choose to send their kids to the academy rather than to public school. Republicans have traditionally favored vouchers, allowing parents more choices.
Christie responded by talking about the pending Opportunity Scholarship Act, in which private corporations would get a tax credit to donate money to fund scholarships for students in certain districts to go to private or parochial schools.
An English teacher from Jose Marti Academy in Union City voiced his concern about cuts in music and arts programs.
Christie responded that such decisions are made at a district level and that his goal is to restore, as the economy improves, some of the $820 million in K-12 education cuts that he made last year.
He also said he’d be making some sort of announcement about all-day pre-K programs in two weeks.
Deanna Cullen can be reached at dcullen@hudsonreporter.com.