With possibly only hours to go before New Jersey's government is thrust into a shutdown, state Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto on Friday morning continued to dig in his heels in a dramatic state budget standoff with Gov. Chris Christie.
"I feel good," Prieto (D-Hudson) said during a radio interview on New Jersey 101.5, a few hours before both houses of the New Jersey Legislature are scheduled to reconvene. "I think I'm on the right side of history here."
While Prieto confirmed that a version of the Horizon bill that has proved to be a sticking point in the conversation has been introduced in the Assembly, his spokesman, Tom Hester, said the speaker has no plans to post the measure for a vote.
Prieto also told a political website that he sent a representative to talk compromise with the governor -- but Christie's office sharply disputed the story.
Democrats who control the Legislature have proposed sending Christie, a Republican, a $37.4 billion budget. But Christie has demanded lawmakers send him two bills in return: one that would use state lottery funds to pay down the state's public-worker pension liabilities and another that would reform the state's largest health insurance provider, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.
Prieto has agreed on the lottery measure, but he has refused to sign off on the Horizon legislation. If a deal isn't struck by midnight -- the constitutional deadline for a budget to be signed -- Christie could order the state government to shut down for only the second time in New Jersey history.
"It's frustrating because we're doing the right thing," Prieto said Friday. "This is almost like extortion."
On Thursday, 25 Democrats in the Assembly withheld votes on the budget to force Prieto's hand. State Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) also supports Christie's Horizon plan and is urging Prieto to end his opposition.
In a separate interview Friday, Prieto told the online news website Observer that he sent an emissary to Christie's office after Thursday's vote to offer the governor something else in exchange for the budget.
Prieto said Christie would take only the Horizon bill and that the governor has not answered his phone calls or text messages.
Brian Murray, a spokesman for Christie's office, denied that story in a statement Friday morning.
"No secret emissary ever appeared at the governor's office. Maybe the speaker forgot to tell the emissary that the governor's office moved to 225 West State Street," Murray said in reference to how the executive wing of the Statehouse is being renovating and Christie's office has moved down the street in Trenton.
"Regardless, the story is fiction," Murray added. "The governor remains ready to hear from the speaker directly." (from)
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