NJ Governor Christie Pares and Signs State Budget

Governor Chris Christie, averting a shutdown of nonessential services, has stricken items he viewed as unfavorable from the $30.6 billion New Jersey budget before signing it into law.

Christie had said he wouldn't sign the budget in its current form because it overestimates the amount of revenue the state is likely to collect. The Republican was handed the spending plan by the Democratic majority in the Legislature late Wednesday.

It the budget hadn't been signed before the start of the new fiscal year on Friday, the government technically would have run out of money and nonessential services would have shut down.

With the Associated Press