Last week while Governor Phil Murphy was violating his own Executive Orders and keeping his knee on the neck of New Jersey’s small businesses, former Governor Chris Christie took two significant steps in his political comeback.
Governor Chris Christie issued 26 clemency orders; 25 pardons and one commutation of sentence, on Friday. Christie leaves office on Tuesday.
Eleven of the pardons were of individuals convicted on weapons possession charges and eleven were for drug possession charges. One pardon was for a driving while intoxicated. The commutation of sentence for was for the 1993 homicide conviction of an Ocean County woman. Read the rest of this entry »
Governor Christie signs the budget. Photo by Tim Larsen
Both houses of the New Jersey Legislature passed a budget last night which Governor Chris Christie signed, ending the three day shutdown of non-essential government services.
New Jersey state parks and beaches will be open today, the 4th of July. Courts, MVC offices and all other state operations will return to their normal operating hours tomorrow.
At at 10pm press conference announcing a deal on legislation to change the State’s oversight of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Senate President Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto said that would ask Christie to support their desire to pay state employees for their forced day off on July 3.
Kim Guadagno meets with busnesses owners at Bum Rogers Tavern, which is at the entrance to Island Beach State Park
Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, the GOP nominee to be the next summer tenant at Island Beach State Park, met with business owners impacted by the New Jersey government shutdown today blasting Governor Chris Christie, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto.
“If I were governor, I sure wouldn’t be sitting on the beach if taxpayers didn’t have access to state beaches. It’s beyond words,” Guadagno said on facebook and twitter.
Lt Governor Kim Guadagno. Photo credit: Tim Larsen/Governor’s office
Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno today called on Governor Chris Christie, Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto and Senate President Steve Sweeney to set aside the Horizon bill that is causing the deadlock in Trenton and instead take up a bill sponsored by Assembly Members Declan O’Scanlon and Nancy Muñoz that freezes existing government employee unused sick time payouts at the amounts already accumulated while eliminatinating the practice of lump sum payouts for unused sick time for new employees.
Governor Chris Christie called a press conference for 4PM this afternoon, presumably to make an announcement regarding the State Budget impasse between the Christie, the State Senate and the General Assembly.
TRENTON — The state Legislature won’t pass a budget on Thursday as talks over key components of a deal remain deadlocked. That brings New Jersey right up against the midnight Friday deadline for a state budget. Without a spending plan, Gov. Chris Christie has the option to shut down state government. More than half of the… Read the rest of this entry »
TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie’s battle with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey to give up $300 million of its reserves to the state intensified Wednesday when the governor vilified the insurer for getting slapped with $16 million in fines from the state over a period of nine months. In a hastily called news… Read the rest of this entry »
Governor Chris Christie will be making an announcement this afternoon at 1pm, according to a statement from his office.
Insiders expect that the governor will announce a school funding deal for the next fiscal year negotiated between himself, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto.