New Jersey Governor Chris Christie returned to his hometown of Livingston today to pitch support for his tax reform plan and urged the legislature to pass bills that would limit public pensions and require public employees to pay a larger share of their health insurance costs.
He called the current system of employees picking up 1½ percent of the costs of their health insurance "unsustainable" and said health insurance for public employees is currently underfunded by $67 billion.
The governor said his proposal would require public employees to pay 30 percent of the cost of their premiums. "I want people to have health insurance, I want them to have good health insurance, I want them to have what they can afford," he said.
Christie also called for reforms to public schools, saying the state pays the highest per-pupil costs in the nation, but many of the public schools are failing their students. He said students - particularly in Abbot districts - are not performing up to state standards.
Christie said he was glad to be back in his hometown of Livingston and said Livingston is the place that gave him the values he has today.
"This is where I grew up and learned the values we are pushing for," he said. "The foundation that was laid to give me the opportunity to run for governor."
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