On eve of ‘State of the State,’ Dems say Christie too focused on Sandy

A day before Gov. Chris Christie will deliver his State of the State address, Democratic leaders of the state Senate offered their own assessment of where New Jersey stands.

The governor’s speech expected to focus on rebuilding from Hurricane Sandy.

But Senate President Steve Sweeney claimed Monday that Christie is using Sandy to ignore other problems.

“If you’re one of the 9.6 percent of the people unemployed in this state, you can’t wait for when that benefit of unemployment might come to you,” he said. “We’ve got to do something now.”

Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg maintains Christie has failed to adequately address issues affecting women.

“Whether it’s the right to choose to access health care or to receive equitable pay, the Democratic members of New Jersey’s Legislature have taken a stand against the Republican war on women,” said Weinberg, D-Bergen.

That’s something the Christie administration has not done, Sweeney charged.

“The health-care issues and the women’s issues have not gone away. The foreclosure issues have not gone away,” he said. “We can’t just say forget about that.”

Sweeney, D-Gloucester, says the state has to deal with the people harmed by Sandy, but he’s urging Christie to work with the Democrats who control the Legislature to also resolve other issues and move the state forward.

Christie will deliver his annual address at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Statehouse in Trenton.