Chris Christie in 2012 Governor's State of the State speeches

On Crime: Bail reform package: jail violent offenders before trial

This may require a constitutional amendment but it is reform that is long overdue. Do you know that if a person is arrested with a long record of violence we cannot detain that person in jail pending trial? We must release that person, regardless of how dangerous they are to potential witnesses against them or innocent members of our society. Let us amend our bail laws to allow judges to consider the factor of dangerousness to our communities before we release a violent person back on to the street to maim or kill while they await trial. This is just simple common sense.

On Drugs: Drug treatment rather than non-violent offenders in prison

Treating non-violent drug offenders is 2/3 less expensive than housing them in prison. And more importantly--as long as they have not violently victimized society--everyone deserves a second chance, because no life is disposable.

I am not satisfied to have this as merely a pilot project; I call for a transformatio of the way we deal with drug abuse and incarceration. So today I ask this Legislature to join me in this commitment that no life is disposable.

I propose mandatory treatment for every non-violent offender with a drug abuse problem, not just a select few. It will send a clear message to those who have fallen victim to the disease of drug abuse--we want to help you, not throw you away. We will require you to get treatment. Your life has value. Every one of God's creations can be redeemed.

On Education: Replace Abbott District funds with tenure reform & charters

1. reform tenure--by taking it away from those whose ratings are unacceptably weak.
2. if layoffs are necessary remove the least effective teachers instead of just the most junior ones.
3. pay teachers more when they are assigned to a failing school or to teach a difficult subject.
4. end forced placements--teachers should not be assigned to schools without the mutual consent of the teacher and the principal.
5. reform our process for authorizing charter schools to focus on our failing school districts

On Principles & Values: The New Jersey Comeback: stop blaming; start building

How do we know it has begun? Just look around you. In the last two years, we have come together to address the mess that was our budget. The decline, deficits, and departures that plagued our State just two years ago have been reversed. The budget is balanced. Our unemployment rate is no longer going up, it is coming down. Job growth has been restored--in the private sector, where we want it. New Jersey is back.

We have restrained the growth of property taxes. We have put our pensions on a more stable and sustainable footing. And in doing all this, we have restored confidence and pride in NJ.

For New Jersey, the corner has been turned. Today, the debate is not about who to blame for our failures, it is how to build on our successes. It is no longer about how to deal with devastating decline; it is now about how to push New Jersey even further ahead. To be better than we thought we could be.

On Tax Reform: Reduce all income tax brackets by 10% and restore EITC

I propose to reduce income tax rates for each and every New Jerseyan. In every tax bracket. By 10% across the board.

I also propose to fully restore the earned income tax credit for New Jersey's working poor, which we were forced to cut during the dark days of 2010, when growth was gone & we had no money. Understand what this means--every New Jerseyan will get a cut in taxes. The working poor. The struggling middle class. The new college graduates getting their first job. The senior citizens who have already retired. The single mom. The job creators. The