Christie wants power over ‘shadow government’

Gov. Chris Christie is urging the New Jersey Legislature to extend his veto power to cover more authorities and commissions.

What Christie calls his “shadow government reform” legislation would grant him veto authority over multi-jurisdictional entities that are not currently subject to his oversight.

“Many of these entities claim that they’re immune from state supervision as to their policies, their hiring, their expenditures,” said Christie. “These entities collect money from the citizens of the state of New Jersey in various forms, and no one is paying attention to what’s going on in these places.”

Christie now has veto power over 55 authorities. He said there are a lot more of them that would be covered by the proposed legislation. Christie said that oversight would help him save money by controlling their conduct, practices and expenditures.