For once, it appeared that as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's term was months away from coming to an end, rather than govern in terms of "my way or the highway," he decided to allow his opposition to gain some ground over a recent legislative standoff. Last Friday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie ordered a government shutdown when the Democratic-led Congress was unable to pass a budget.
Democrats fall in line with Vincent Prieto
On Monday, the President of the the state Senate (Stephen Sweeney) said that there were no signs that the shutdown would end.
At the time, Sweeney revealed the difficulties of ending a government shutdown, saying that even if they wanted to end it, they couldn't without drafting a bill first. Central to the issue was a bill that was meant to reform Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield which is the state's largest health insurance provider.
It seemed that Gov. Christie had a "beef" with the not-for-profit provider, saying that he wanted to establish a permanent fund of $300 million in order to help -- he claimed -- those in his state who are in need of treatment for opioid addiction. The bill he wanted would force the provider to establish that fund, but state lawmakers disagreed. Sweeney said that he was on board with the bill but when Vincent Prieto of Hudson said it was bad public policy, Assembly Democrats fell in line with him and refused to pass a budget over the bill.
The stand off in this case was between Senate Democrats who were with the Governor and Assembly Democrats who were not.
Gov. Christie's attempts to 'extort' Horizon
Christie was reportedly engaged in budget negotiations in June where Democratic leaders brought their budget proposal -- which included expanding preschool programs as part of revising school funding.
It was over this budget that he agreed to sign off on their budget given that they would be able to provide the bill he wanted against Horizon. Assembly Speaker Prieto has said that Christie's attempt to "extort" Horizon was not part of the budget process, and has said that he had the support of unions for public workers that would stand up against the governor.
It would seem at this point that the standoff over the government shutdown is between Prieto and Christie.
Christie vs. Prieto
Sweeney has said that he heard that Prieto did not want to give Christie "a win," especially since he has six months left in his term. They've both gone after one another via Twitter, much like Trump has with some of his opponents. As for Horizon, the company's spokesman Kevin McArdle issued a statement that also attacked Christie, saying that the governor had resorted to bullying the company which he too referred to as extortion. He also added that the governor was in the twilight of his failed tenure. Gov. Christie has attempted to point out that he would not benefit from his enforcement on Horizon because it would not go into effect until January, when he would already be out of office.
By Monday night, however, Christie would back down and pass the budget.
The legislature's budget was sent to the Governor on Tuesday morning and would certainly have signaled a win for the Democratically-led legislature, ending the government shutdown in time for July 4. But Vincent Prieto and Chris Christie were at each other again by Wednesday, when Prieto accused the governor of changing the language in the submitted proposals. The office did not deny that changes were made, saying that they don't have to pass every little piece in the proposal. Prieto said that Christie had gone back on his word and that anyone who believed anything the Governor said had spent too much time in the sun with Christie, on the George Washington bridge. Prieto was referring to the Bridgegate scandal where the Governor was accused of shutting down bridge lanes as retaliation against a Democrat mayor.
