Chris Christie’s latest misery: N.J.’s finances
By MAGGIE HABERMAN and MJ LEE | 5/8/14 11:20 PM EDT Updated: 5/9/14 4:55 AM EDT
Here’s how drastically Chris Christie’s political fortunes have turned: Bridgegate might not be his biggest problem.
Just as the New Jersey governor is trying to turn the corner on the traffic scandal and restore his national luster, now he’s getting blamed for a yawning budget deficit and recent downgrade of the state’s debt.
Christie and state lawmakers have less than two months to close a sudden budget hole. Analysts say the governor’s administration brought on the problem by projecting the state would collect much more in tax revenue than it did; Christie’s aides insist the Legislature bears some of the blame.
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“Ultimately, governors live or die politically on the economic performance of their state,” said Mark McKinnon, a former strategist to George W. Bush. “If the economy gets much worse in New Jersey, Gov. Christie may want to close another bridge.”
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Christie’s troubles reached an apex in the past few weeks, as Fitch Ratings, one of the “Big Three” credit rating agencies, downgraded New Jersey’s debt from AA- to A+ last week.
It was the fifth such downgrade since he took office in 2010.
The company cited, in part, the magnitude of an additional $807-million-revenue shortfall that the Christie administration recently announced, which brought New Jersey’s total full-year budget gap up to just over $1 billion.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/christies-finances-106519.html#ixzz31DBa8ZPl
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