State budget deal not reached, Christie wants Horizon measure

TRENTON » New Jersey creeped closer to the possibility of a state government shutdown on Thursday when the Legislature failed to pass a budget, and Republican Gov. Chris Christie threw his support behind the Democratic Senate’s plan — opposed by the Democratic Assembly speaker — to overhaul the state’s largest health insurer.

Christie at a news conference embraced the Senate’s plan to reform Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, saying for the first time in the run up to Saturday’s deadline that he would not sign the Democrats’ $34.7 billion budget unless it included the Horizon legislation and his plan to reduce the pension’s unfunded liability by transferring the lottery as an asset to the fund. That includes about $350 million in Democratic spending priorities.

This will be Christie’s final budget after two terms. He cannot seek re-election.

The Horizon legislation is a major stumbling block, opposed by Democratic Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto. On Thursday, Prieto failed in his effort to pass the budget, halting the vote when he got only 24 out of the necessary 41 votes needed.

The prospects of a state government shutdown changed after Thursday, with Christie going from saying earlier this week that he wasn’t worried about a shutdown, to already pinning the blame on Prieto if a constitutionally required funding plan is not enacted. Later on Thursday he wrote a letter to his Cabinet telling them to prepare for a shutdown.

“(If) government closes it closes. To tell you the truth I think that what will happen is that government will close,” Christie said, when asked what would happen if he does not get the bills he’s seeking. “(Prieto) is playing a very dangerous game here for reasons that I just can’t begin to understand.”

Prieto said if there’s a shutdown blame lies at the feet of the lawmakers who opposed the budget, which was negotiated with the Senate and passed out of committee with Democratic support.

Prieto had only 24 votes of the 52-member Democratic caucus. He told reporters at a news conference that he would be willing to lose the speakership over the issue.

“I don’t want to shut government (down). The people that did not vote for this that you know would vote for this those are the people that are the obstructionists,” Prieto said.

Thursday’s action saw Christie in the familiar role of partnering with Sweeney, with whom he worked to pass landmark pension reforms in his first term and that Christie went on to abandon in later budget crunches.