Christie to announce judicial nominations this afternoon

Governor Chris Christie has called a press conference for 2:30 this afternoon to announce his new judicial nominations.

The Star Ledger reported this morning that the governor would re-nominate Chief Justice Stuart Rabner, giving Rabner tenure, and nominate Superior Court Judge Lee Solomon to the Supreme Court.  In a deal struck with Senate President Sweeney, there a remaining vacancy on the Supreme Court would continue to be filled on a temporary basis by Rabner’s choice, Judge Mary Catherine Cuff.

Christie’s press conference can be viewed live here:

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Pay for NJ public employees climbed $360M in 2013, report says

Pay for NJ public employees climbed $360M in 2013, report says (via NJ.com)

New Jersey’s public employees were paid about $26.7 billion last year — $360 million more than in 2012. State taxpayers funded the positions of an additional 1,409 workers last year — an increase of 1.3 percent, according to a report by the Asbury…

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Christie to nominate Chief Justice Rabner for tenure on NJ Supreme Court

Christie to nominate Chief Justice Rabner for tenure on NJ Supreme Court (via NJ.com)

By Matt Friedman and Salvador Rizzo/The Star-Ledger TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie today will re-nominate Stuart Rabner as chief justice of the state Supreme Court, The Star-Ledger has learned. The development is a breakthrough in negotiations between…

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Governor Christie’s Remarks On Cutting Pension Payments To Balance The Budget

Governor Christie: I have made the decision that we are not going to blindside our students, we are not going to blindside our seniors, our higher education institutions or those who rely on the safety net the state provides to balance the budget with only six weeks left in the fiscal year. So you have to make choices and we are making them. We’re choosing to be responsible in terms of the way we fund these critical priorities that matter to the people of the state. And we are choosing not put at risk those programs that I mentioned and those services that the people of the state rely upon, especially on such extraordinarily short notice. I’d love to give people tax relief. I’d love to also be able to fund programs that are priorities and that matter a great deal to me and to the people of this state. But until we decide to be adults and deal with the problem we know we have we’re not going to be able to do that. And so today I’m doing what I need to do to fulfill my constitutional obligation to balance a budget. Today I’m going to pledge to make the payments that we need to make to not dig the hole any deeper. But in a time when we’re confronted with this type of challenge I cannot also pay for all the sins of my predecessors, and so we’re going to do this now. We’re going to continue to try to get better as we move forward but you’re going to continue to hear from me and you will hear from me soon with specifics on the way we need to change the pension and the health benefit system. I’ve been saying over the course of the last number of months that come Fiscal Year ’16 New Jersey is going to be paying more for health benefit costs for retirees than we pay for active employees. If there is any greater symbol for how untenable the system has become I don’t know what it is. And so we need to deal with this problem and we need to deal with it directly. I will fix the problems that have been foist upon us today. But I’m going to need cooperation from the Legislature and elected officials across the state to deal with this problem going forward.

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Chris Christie to reduce pension payments to fill $800M NJ budget gap

Chris Christie to reduce pension payments to fill $800M NJ budget gap (via NJ.com)

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie today announced plans to reduce two key payments scheduled for the state’s pension system for public workers — an emergency move that could trigger lawsuits and further downgrades of the state’s credit rating but solves…

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Christie conditionally vetoes Sandy ‘Bill of Rights’

Christie conditionally vetoes Sandy ‘Bill of Rights’ (via NJ.com)

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie today stripped down a bill drafted in response to concerns about how well the state has distributed federal Hurricane Sandy relief aid, saying it included mandates that would be impossible to implement and featured “partisan…

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Table talk could be chilly for Christie at White House correspondents dinner

Table talk could be chilly for Christie at White House correspondents dinner (via NJ.com)

Gov. Chris Christie and his wife Mary Pat look to have some interesting dining companions at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents Association dinner, the annual gathering of the media, political and entertainment elite. According to The Hill’…

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NJ debt downgraded for fifth time under Christie

NJ debt downgraded for fifth time under Christie (via NJ.com)

TRENTON — A major Wall Street credit-rating agency downgraded New Jersey’s debt again Thursday, unnerved by “both the scale and belatedness” of an $807 million budget gap disclosed this week by Gov. Chris Christie’s administration. The action…

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Moody’s Expects New Jersey To Use ‘One-Shots’ To Fill Shortfall

Moody’s Expects New Jersey To Use ‘One-Shots’ To Fill Shortfall (via NJSpotlight)

While Gov. Chris Christie is proclaiming that there is “nothing off the table” to close this year’s $800 million budget gap, Moody’s Investors Service said yesterday it will be keeping a close watch not only on how heavily the state relies on…

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Christie to name former attorney general as Port Authority chairman

Christie to name former attorney general as Port Authority chairman (via NJ.com)

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie today plans to name one former attorney general of New Jersey to replace another as chairman of the embattled Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which has come under intense scrutiny in recent months, The Star…

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