ON AIR: Governor Christie was a Guest on WOR's The John Gambling Radio Show Today

Interview

Governor Christie was on WOR'S The John Gambling Show
Full transcript of the interview is provided below.

"My argument is not with the teachers in New Jersey, my argument is with a union, who collects, think about this now, I leave you with this, $730 a year from every teacher and school employee in the union in mandatory dues. And if you don't want to join the union, here's your option: you can be out, you pay 85% of $730 to be out."

GAMBLING: Alright, good morning everybody. The John Gambling show continues. Seventeen before nine, the Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie on the telephone with me. Hello Governor.

CHRISTIE: Good morning John, how are you?

GAMBLING: I couldn't be better. How are you doing? You've got a budget coming up here at the end of the month. Your fiscal year starts July 1. We've heard the contention having to do with unions and others. Where are you today?

CHRISTIE: John, listen, I think we're doing real well. I think we're on track to getting the budget done before June 30th. And I think that it is going to be, you know, probably the budget that I submitted, maybe a couple minor changes but not much. The fact of the matter is that it's going to be a huge story for New Jerseyans, and for people around the country; an $11 billion budget deficit that is going to be closed without a tax increase.

GAMBLING: Governor, I think, I think it is going to be a huge national story because I think, you are at the moment and if you can pull this off with Trenton, you'll be the poster boy here for what can be done with a mandate from the people of New Jersey.

CHRISTIE: Listen John, we've talked about this all during the campaign and since I've been in office. I ran on some very simple but, I think, powerful principles: which was that the government has gotten too big, spent too much, was out of control and needed to be reigned in, and we need to get our tax structure back where people can feel as if they prosper and work hard, that they can change their standard of living and not just give more money to the government. And you know, that's what we're trying to do, and I think the first step in that is to close this budget gap without any tax increases, and I am absolutely unshakably committed to that.

GAMBLING: Well I think it's interesting that a couple people in Trenton have said, you know what, we'll pass the Governor's budget -- his pared-down budget -- but we want the Republicans to take the heat for this and the Governor to take the heat for this. I think they are making a bad calculation, because I think that the people of New Jersey seriously want both Republicans and Democrats to do the adult and the right thing.

CHRISTIE: John, I absolutely agree with you, and this is another indication that the Democrats are playing out of a dated playbook. They don't understand that in the last year the playbook has been changed by the people who write the playbook, and that is the people of the state of New Jersey. They want government that is under control, they want a government that acknowledges, acknowledges, that government has gotten too big, spends too much, borrows too much, and we're feeling that all over the state of New Jersey. So, I think Republicans, listen there are some tough choices in here, and there are some things that we'd rather not do but that we must do to get government back under control and Republicans are going to proudly support this budget.

GAMBLING: Alright governor, you've got practical decisions to make at every single turn. One of them, seemingly unimportant, but means a lot of money for the state. I'm talking about the film industry and the 20% tax break that Jersey gives shows like Law & Order: SVU, Mercy and the others. Will you -- it's cut at the moment -- will you put it back in?

CHRISTIE: You know, that's all going to be a part of the conversation I'm going to be having with the legislature over the next two weeks, about what their priorities are and what fixes I might want to make, so with all due respect I don't want to conduct that negotiation on your air, we'll be having those negotiations about priorities as we go forward over the next two weeks.

GAMBLING: Are we really that far apart from the reality and the discussion? Two weeks? I mean…

CHRISTIE: Yeah, oh yeah, listen, we are going to get this budget done by June 30th. And so, here we sit today in the middle of June, so there is couple of weeks to get this done. But, we're in conversation with the legislative leadership and we're going to get it done.

GAMBLING: Alright so now what is this about the counties asking the state to take over the prosecutor's offices and possibly pay for all of that? How does that help the counties, and the state?

CHRISTIE: Listen, first of all, all I've done so far is had a meeting yesterday with the leaders of 16 of our 21 counties to listen to their complaints and preferences. I think they have some valid concerns. The way the prosecutor's office works in New Jersey is that all of the prosecutor's policies are developed by the State Attorney General and they are managed by the State Attorney General, but they are paid for by the individual counties. So the counties' complaint is "we have to pick up the bill but they don't get any say over how the money is spent and how much money is spent, we are just handed a bill by the State of New Jersey to pay it." And so their position is, "if you're gonna run it, you're gonna pay for it." And so, there's some validity to that argument, but it's got to be judged by if can we afford to do it, and the plan they put in front of me yesterday talks about assuming paying for it in a staged process over ten years. And so it's something I told them we are going to set up a committee that includes the Attorney General, local county prosecutors and local county elected officials, and hopefully by the end of the year they will have a recommendation for me. So it's just the first meeting in the very beginning stages of this.

GAMBLING: What do you think about the idea that is in front of the Assembly and that will be before the Senate about advertising on the tollbooths of New Jersey highways, on the Turnpike and the Atlantic City Expressway?

CHRISTIE: I have some real concerns about it John from a safety perspective. You know we saw tragically what happens when people are distracted on the road this weekend, when a State Trooper was killed by a driver who was distracted by all the police activity around him, strayed on to the shoulder and struck a State Trooper, 29 year-old state trooper and killed him. I'm concerned. We're trying to do all kinds of things to lower distractions on the road, laws against text messaging, laws against cell phone usage unless its hands free, and those types of things and I have to see the specifics of the legislation but I don't know, I don't know that advertising won't distract people and cause more accidents, which clearly we don't need. So I don't have a firm final position, but that is my concern.

GAMBLING: Let me ask you about Atlantic City. You must be concerned about the drop in revenue there. It is significant, and it affects the State's pocketbook directly.

CHRISTIE: I am John, and I have the Hanson Commission, John Hanson is the former head of the Sports Authority in the 1980s, who is running looking at the future of gaming in New Jersey, and they are going to report back to me by July 1 about what we can do in Atlantic City. I've already signed some legislation that allows some additional help for Atlantic City in terms of private-public partnerships to work on some things in the state. Also, some more legislation pending now concerning casino licenses for hotels up to 200 rooms, rather than the larger amount of rooms which are required now. So there's some things we have to do, but in the end we have to turn Atlantic City into a summer destination resort for people to vacation and gamble around the country, and I hope that's the direction the Hanson Commission is moving towards.

GAMBLING: Yeah, well let's hope so but that has been the goal of the casinos since the beginning of Atlantic City and there have been times when they've been closer than they are today, but it's never really been able to get past the Boardwalk.

CHRISTIE: Yeah, it's true, and here's the bottom line, we need to exert some very strong leadership down there, and it may mean that the State has to assert itself more directly in Atlantic City. So we're going to have to take a look at what the Hanson Commission comes up with, but I think everybody in New Jersey knows that I will be very assertive regarding the future of Atlantic City, they won't have to wonder where I stand. We're developing those policies and we're going to have to make sure that the economy of South Jersey comes back as the economy comes back.

GAMBLING: What's happening with the $400 million that was voted on about Open Space? Is that money being spent?

CHRISTIE: What's happening now John is that we are taking applications now for that money to be spent. We are at the very beginning of that process. As you know, during my campaign, I opposed borrowing more money to do that, but the voters voted for it. And so what we're doing now is taking additional applications for additional Green Space and Open Acres projects in New Jersey and we'll consider those applications.

GAMBLING: Alright Governor, you continue to stand tall, alright? Don't let them push you back.

CHRISTIE: John, you know better. There's no one that's going to, they have yet, and we're going to continue to fight for the things we said we were going to do, and we're going to keep our word to the people of New Jersey. By the way, if anyone's wondering, I'm having a great time. I love being Governor, I enjoy it every day. So, I'm on my way to Trenton now, and I am ready to dig in for another day.

GAMBLING: Alright, give "em hell. Okay Governor, thanks a lot, I appreciate it.

GOVERNOR: Okay.

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