New Jersey Government Shutdown Continues with No Talks Held

Mara Silvers

WNYC News | Jun 30, 2017

UPDATED

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey's state government will enter a second day of a government shutdown after Gov. Chris Christie and the Democrat-led Legislature failed to even discuss a budget Saturday.

Christie ordered the legislature to meet Saturday to resolve the deadlock, but Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto did not appear. The governor has plastered pictures of Prieto on government offices, blaming him for the closures.

The shutdown means state parks and nonessential services such as the Motor Vehicle Commission are closed for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Prisons, the state police and casinos will remain open.

Christie, who is deeply unpopular in the state as he heads into his final six months in office, made supporting a $34.7 billion budget that includes 73 Democratic priorities contingent on a proposal to overhaul the nonprofit Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, aiming to tap into their surplus to finance drug treatment.

Prieto held a vote Friday on the budget that remained deadlocked with only 26 yes votes out of 41 needed to prevail.

Christie has called the Legislature into session for Saturday.

Christie's second and final term is wrapping up with his approval ratings at 15 percent. Christie's Horizon proposal has perplexed some conservatives, who have rallied to oppose the legislation. Labor groups that typically align with Democrats, like the state's largest teachers union, also oppose the idea.

Christie has cast Horizon as a giant, greedy company that is abandoning the charitable mission the state had in mind when the state designated it as a health services corporation. The non-profit insurer has responded with a mobile video billboard displaying anti-Christie videos near his office this week.

Christie referred to the video as "a carnival" and attacked Horizon for spending money on lobbyists. Horizon has four board members appointed by the governor.

Steve Johnson, who was biking through a closed state park, told WNYC he is insured by Horizon and doesn't appreciate the governor trying to take the non-profit insurer's reserves.

"I don't think it's right that he does that, that the state can just like pre-empt, you've got some extra money, we're going to take it," Johnson said.

Businessman and publisher Steve Forbes called Christie's plan political "extortion." Americans for Prosperity has come out against the proposal. The pro-business New Jersey Business and Industry Association, typically a reliable Republican ally, has abandoned Christie on this issue.

Christie said during a news conference Friday that he's not concerned about how he'd be perceived during a shutdown.

"I'm upset because this will inconvenience the people of New Jersey," he said. "That's the only reason I'm upset. Otherwise legacy all that other stuff, please. There will be a long list of things pro and con on my legacy."

The issue comes down to compromise, he said, adding that his willingness to agree to Democratic spending preferences despite having the ability to line-item veto them shows he's bending.

He called himself "Mr. Reasonable."

But Prieto said it's he who has already compromised by accepting the bill to transfer the state's lottery to the pension to reduce its unfunded liability.

He says that he's not budging on the Horizon bill and that it's the wrong time to consider legislation that could affect ratepayers at a time when congressional Republicans are debating "Trumpcare," a clear reference to the delayed GOP efforts to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act.

Christie on Friday presented a 2006 bill that Prieto co-sponsored that proposed using Horizon's surplus as a sign that Prieto was acting hypocritically.

Prieto responded "things change and things evolve."

Invoking Trump could resonate on another level in New Jersey, where Christie enthusiastically backed the president and now leads an anti-opioid addiction panel for the White House. Trump lost New Jersey to Hillary Clinton last year.

The Senate approved a different version of Christie's initial proposal on Horizon.

Rather than tapping directly into Horizon's surplus, it requires that the state insurance commissioner set a range for Horizon's surplus. When the top limit is exceeded, then the excess cash would go toward programs to benefit the public and policyholders under the Senate bill.