Gov. Chris Christie dropped by the New Jersey Alliance for Action Annual Transportation Conference on Tuesday in Middlesex County and, in his remarks, pitched his plan to cut New Jersey’s pension liability with funds from the state lottery.
Watch:
Transcript:
Governor Christie: Remember this administration has reduced government employees at the state level by nearly 11,000 in seven yearswithout one layoff, purely by attrition. Watch what happens if past is prologue. These are all things you need to be concerned about, I took care of the Transportation Trust Fund, you’ve got eight years now you don’t have to worry about that. Just go out and do your job, go out and bid these jobs, employ the hard working men and women in this state who do the really great work on our infrastructure and plow ahead on that, it’s taken care of. You can send me the thank you note later, three years, four years from now whenever you want. We now don’t have to worry about refinancing the Transportation Trust Fund again. But I’m here to give you a warning. The lottery proposal that we’re making is a gift to all of you, to spend the last bit of political capital we have before we leave to improve the system for the next person and not through gimmicks, and not through games, but through taking a major asset of the state and committing it to fixing the single biggest fiscal problem we have. I want you to know that you in my opinion have been a force for good in this state, a force for good for the families of this state. A force for good for the education system in our state and a force for good in the future of our economy and the cultural fabric of our state. There’s not a lot of places I’ve done three times in seven years but I’m doing this one because I truly believe in your mission and I believe in the people executing on it. So congratulations on what you’ve done. Thank you for what you’ve supported of our agenda, and for how you’ve helped to make this state a better place. And please don’t stop, because I would like to spend the rest of my life here and I’d love to have my children want to spend their lives here. And for them to want to do that and for me to be able to do that we’ve got to continue to make this state better than it is today. And if we’re going to do that it’s only going to be with your help and your support.
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