Governor Chris Christie Vetoes Two Bills

TRENTON– Governor Chris Christie has issued an absolute veto of Senate Bill 1794 and a conditional veto of Senate Bill 2137.
S-1794 would have expanded the group of qualifying municipalities within which projects would qualify for financing assistance from the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority to any municipality that happens to border two or more other municipalities containing Urban Enterprise Zones. The New Jersey Redevelopment Authority’s role is currently limited to the state’s urban municipalities.
New Jersey already has an agency that provides statewide financing assistance in both urban and non-urban areas — the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. The Lieutenant Governor is spearheading the New Jersey Partnership for Action in order to help restore New Jersey as a business-friendly environment for growth. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority is a key part of the New Jersey Partnership for Action, and should serve as the starting point for businesses seeking financial assistance within the State. Governor Christie vetoed S-1794 because expanding the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority’s responsibilities to non-urban areas would be duplicative and undermine the streamlined mission of the New Jersey Partnership for Action and the Lieutenant Governor’s efforts.
Governor Christie issued a conditional veto of S-2137, a bill that sought to reconcile two related, largely overlapping laws that were enacted in January 2010, P.L.2009, c.335 (C.52:40-1 et seq.) (Chapter 335) and P.L.2009, c.313 (Chapter 313), but does so in a matter that is likely to be ruled unconstitutional and possibly constitutes an unfunded state mandate on local governments.
The Governor’s conditional veto seeks to address these issues by amending the bill to delay the effective date of portions of the bill until a disparity study or other similar analysis is done that can support the sections of the bill in question, as is the case with other areas of current law.