Politics & Government

Christie Vetoes Bill That Would Check His Power to Privatize

Legislation would have required all privatization efforts to demonstrate they save money, protect current quality of services.

By Colleen O'Dea, NJSpotlight.com

The Christie administration made privatizing dozens of state programs and services a priority shortly after taking office, announcing it was a way to save millions of dollars during economically tough times. But recently, Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill whose purpose was to ensure that government privatization actually saved money.

Christie vetoed the bill, A-998, along with seven other bills a few weeks ago, as he signed the $32.9 billion state budget, saying they would "deplete the state's fiscal resources, restructure government in a significant manner, and significantly alter the policies and spending priorities" of the budget. He said the bills as a group would "potentially add hundreds of millions of dollars to state and local budgets, frustrating New Jersey's already over-burdened taxpayers and undermining the state budget."

Find out what's happening in Ridgewood-Glen Rockwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Democrats, though, said the opposite. Christie’s veto is evidence he would rather advance his conservative ideology than ensure that privatization results in real savings, said Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen), chief sponsor of the bill.

“With this inexplicable veto, Gov. Christie further threatens to overburden taxpayers and undermine the state budget with unchecked privatization schemes,” she said.

Find out what's happening in Ridgewood-Glen Rockwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Read more at NJSpotlight.com

NJ Spotlight is an issue-driven news website that provides critical insight to New Jersey’s communities and businesses. It is non-partisan, independent, policy-centered and community-minded.


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