New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has signed off on a $33.8 billion budget for the fiscal year starting July 1.
He also vetoed Democrats' plan to raise taxes on millionaires and corporations. The Democrat-led legislature said the tax hikes were necessary to make a full $3.1 billion payment toward public employees' pensions. But Christie said he won't raise taxes to benefit the ailing pension system, which needs an estimated $83 billion to meet its obligations. His budget called for a $1.3 billion payment, less than half what he promised as part of the pension reform law he signed four years ago.
"That is a broken system and it will go bankrupt no matter how much money we put in," he said.
Christie did add more than $200 million in surplus funds to the current fiscal year's payment, noting that he has paid more into the system than any other governor.
He also called on the legislature to support raising the Earned Income Tax Credit from 20 to 30 percent.
Meanwhile, Democrats in the legislature slammed Christie for slashing the pension payments in three consecutive budgets. "The governor had the opportunity to do right by New Jersey and once again he balked," Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto said.
The New Jersey Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, called it "an insult to public employees and all taxpayers."
In a lengthy press conference after signing the budget, Christie kept mum on his plans to announce a presidential bid, saying he's waiting to speak about his "political future" until next week.
And he criticized the Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage, arguing the decision should be left up to the states, not decided by "a group of lawyers sitting in black robes."