New Jersey Governor Chris Christie kicked off a special legislative session he ordered by asking Democrats to replace their proposed tax increase on millionaires with a cut.
Christie, a first-term Republican, said he conditionally vetoed a Democratic-sponsored measure that would have raised the tax rate on income of $1 million or more. That move let him amend the bill and return it to lawmakers for concurrence. His changes would turn that increase into a tax reduction.
A bipartisan tax-cut plan is on all of your desks right now, Christie, 49, told lawmakers today. Lets show our state we can work together and finish the job before we leave for this holiday weekend.
Democrats, who control the Legislature, wanted to use the millionaires tax to pay for credits against local property-tax bills. Christie, who faces re-election in 2013, is seeking to fund a tax cut without increasing any levies.
The governor and lawmakers spent most of June locked in a battle over Christies proposal to lower income taxes across the board by 10 percent over three years. Democrats said that plan favored the rich. They sent Christie a budget on June 25 that swapped his income-tax cut for a property-tax credit that was conditional on revenue meeting the governors projections.
Tax Plan
Christie said that plan held tax relief hostage. He signed the budget on June 29 after erasing $361 million in Democratic spending initiatives, including $50 million of income-tax credits for the working poor.
Lets open the board, vote for a middle-class tax cut and show that bipartisanship is alive and well in New Jersey, Christie said to lawmakers. I have come to the center of the room and agreed to the Senate Democratic tax plan. Will you join me?
The governor has traveled the state to tout what he calls a Jersey Comeback that will allow the state to ramp up spending and lower taxes. The budget he proposed in February for the fiscal year that began July 1 counted on a 7.2 percent boost in revenue, the second-most hopeful projection after Californias, according to the National Governors Association.
Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff, a Christie appointee, has since said that revenue through June 2013 may be $700 million less than Christies target, while the Legislatures chief budget analyst has said the gap may be almost twice that.