TRENTON – Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the $10 million appropriation for the Marsellus Bridge project.
The bill was sponsored by Democrats Sen. Bob Gordon, and in the Assembly by Connie Wagner and Tim Eustace.
In his veto message, Christie said that it “would ladle on even more government spending.”
The sponsors slammed Christie’s decision.
“This veto may not be totally equivalent to a ‘Christie to Bergen County: Drop Dead’ headline, but it’s close,” Gordon said in a statement. “Today the governor told the river towns of Bergen County that they are all alone in dealing with potentially devastating floods even though a solution is at hand. The governor better hope Bergen County has a dry summer, or there will be a flood of angry calls to the governor’s office the next time the Passaic and Saddle Rivers overflow their banks.”
Wagner issued the following statement.
“This is extremely unfortunate for our residents who have been pleading for a reprieve from flooding for years now,” she said. “We have worked tirelessly to try and find a solution and the Governor just responded with a ‘no’. They can rest assured, however, that we will not give up on working together to find a common solution.”
And Eustace added: “This is a blow to the residents of the Lower Saddle River Basin who have been dealing with this issue for years. Ignoring the problem will not make the flooding and the damage that comes along with it go away. Residents will still have to pick up the pieces each time and in the end it will cost everyone more money.”
Another Assembly member, Democrat Valerie Vaineri Huttle, a co-sponsor, was critical of Christie.
“This is a disappointing and short-sighted decision on the part of the Governor,” she said. “I know the flooding nightmare this bridge has created for Garfield and the surrounding area and we won’t give up fighting for a solution. I would hope the Governor would choose to be a part of that solution rather than an impediment.”
