My Plan to Reform Our Government

New Jersey citizens deserve to have a trustworthy government that merits their confidence.  

Today, I laid out my plan to reform our government and rid Trenton of its corrupt behavior because we must restore the public's trust and ensure greater accountability for taxpayers. 

Here are nine ways I will regain that trust and faith in you and your fellow New Jerseyan through common-sense solutions and a record of proven leadership in rooting out corrupt behavior in Trenton.  Read the whole plan over at the Issues Page.

 I will eliminate the Legislature’s conflicts of interest by strengthening ethics laws to require State Legislators to either recuse themselves from legislative actions that affect their private sector interests, or publicly disclose these conflicts when they occur.

I will fully eliminate dual office-holding by our State’s elected officials by proposing immediate changes to state law.

I will ban the practice of dual public employment, whereby one person holds a full-time government job while also holding a salaried, elected position.

I will reform New Jersey’s boards and commissions by only appointing those without conflicts of interest, refusing to create boards and commissions where the memberships create new conflicts of interest, and implementing statutory changes (as needed) to remove any current agency members with conflicts of interest.

I will hold government officials accountable for their actions by requiring any elected or appointed official convicted of a crime connected to their official position to forfeit their pension benefits.

I will strengthen our weak “pay to play” laws by eliminating special interest labor union loopholes to ensure labor unions are treated just like any other entities that have contracts with government.

I will give New Jerseyans a stronger voice in government by amending the State Constitution to create a statewide initiative and referendum process to allow public questions to be placed on the ballot.

I will provide New Jerseyans regularly occurring opportunities to petition for their government for action by amending the State Constitution to include a provision, whereby every 10 years, voters will have the opportunity to convene a popularly-elected Constitutional Convention.

I will increase honesty and openness in government by requiring fully searchable and transparent websites for all state and local governments and school districts, providing links to property records and taxes, government payrolls, expenditures, school performance report cards, and other information. All information would be accessible to the public no later than 45 days following the close of each fiscal year.

Chris, 4/2

Register to Vote

The most important thing we can do as New Jerseyans and Americans is to fulfill our civic duty and vote on Election Day. 

Make sure that you are registered to vote. 

Did you just move to New Jersey?

Do you want to change your party affiliation so you can vote for our campaign during the Republican Primary?

Do you not know where to vote?

Go to our Voter Registration page for the answers and more information.

Fox News on the New Jersey Governor's Race

Quick piece from Fox News that aired last night. 

Keep updated with TV, radio and the newspaper clips from the campaign trail at the Newsroom.

Chris, 4/2

Our Campaign Goes Online

The other day, the Princeton Packet did a story about the 2009 election “going online:”

“The two major party favorites in this year’s New Jersey gubernatorial race have taken their campaigns onto social networking Web sites like Facebook and Twitter, following President Barack Obama’s successful use of such sites and the Web during the 2008 presidential race…

“Chris Christie…already has taken his campaign onto Facebook and other sites, which allow users to create profiles, make friends with one another and share information…”

“Mr. Christie, a former U.S. attorney and the favorite to win the Republican nomination, has gained thousands of “friends” on Facebook since his campaign announced the launch of his profile March 6.

 The Republican favorite also uses Twitter, another social networking site that allows users to constantly update each other on their daily activities in short bits of text, to “tweet” about listening to Bruce Springsteen in the car.”

We are excited to have such great enthusiasm and support, not only out on the campaign trail, but also on the Internet. 

Our Twitter group, up for only a month, gained its 500^th follower today. 

The Chris Christie for Governor group has 3000+ members and not to mention all the new groups that have popped up such as “Women for Chris Christie” and “Police Officers for Chris Christie.”

If you aren’t online with the campaign, go to the Chris Christie for Governor Facebook group or follow on Twitter.

-             Chris, 4/1

Former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler Endorses Chris Christie for Governor

Our campaign picked up the endorsement of Former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler.  Mayor Schundler is a true leader who breathed new life into Jersey City and mobilized efforts for property tax reform. 

In a statement, Mayor Schundler said “I know we need a strong conservative leader who will stand up for middleclass taxpayers, and I believe that Chris Christie will be that kind of leader.  Chris will be the tough, fiscal conservative we need to cut income and business taxes, provide property tax relief and get our state’s economy back on track.”

Sign up here to join our campaign to fix our broken state and bring real change back to New Jersey.

-       Chris, 3/31