Chris Christie in 2017 Governor's State of the State speeches

On Crime: Ban the box: don't ask job applicants about criminal record

Whether leaving a treatment center to a sober living home or leaving prison after having received treatment for the disease that led you to a life of crime, the road to recovery is made even longer and the road to relapse even shorter if the person in recovery cannot find a job.

We now have a criminal justice system that will permit our judges to keep the truly dangerous sociopath behind bars, and will release those non-violent offenders who have only remained in jail because they are poor.

We know the greatest predictor of personal success in every way is a job. Employment is a long term factor towards reducing recidivism. Thanks to our bi-partisan efforts, we have "banned the box", which was a barrier to employment [referring to hiring application forms which had a check box asking if applicants have a criminal record].

There are many more barriers, which is why we will be working to challenge long accepted exclusions for employment of the formerly incarcerated.

Source: 2017 State of the State address to N.J. Legislature Jan 10, 2017

On Drugs: Jailing & stigmatizing addiction victims won't help

The epidemic of addiction that is ravaging our state and its people--it is ravaging our entire country. Yet, very few people want to talk about it. We want to continue to pretend that it is isolated to one class of people or one type of family in our state. We want to continue to take the same approaches we have taken for thirty years or more--to jail those who have this disease. We want to close our eyes and hope this scourge passes by our own homes--if we hope and pray just hard enough to make it so.

Well, hoping and praying alone will not make it better. Arresting, jailing and stigmatizing the victims will not make it better. Our neighbors are dying. Our co-workers are dying. Our children are dying. Every day. In numbers we can no longer ignore.

Drug addiction is a disease. It is not a moral failing. It is a disease that can be treated. By treating the disease with the methods we know and treating its victims with understanding and compassion, we have a chance to save lives

Source: 2017 State of the State address to N.J. Legislature Jan 10, 2017

On Tax Reform: Put the death tax on life support

In 2017, the death tax will be put on life support and, by 2018, the death tax in New Jersey will officially be dead itself. People often flee our state in their senior years because we tax them to death while they live here. To add to the burden, we then tax them again more than any other state AFTER they die. People will now be able to choose New Jersey rather than one of the other 49 states in their later years because we will stop soaking them in their senior years. New Jersey's estate tax has risen from a $675,000 exclusion to a $2 million exclusion on January 1st. On January 1, 2018, New Jersey will no longer have any estate tax at all. This will be game changing tax reform for New Jersey's economy, our families and their small businesses. Source: 2017 State of the State address to N.J. Legislature Jan 10, 2017

The above quotations are from 2017 Governor's State of the State speeches. Click here for other excerpts from 2017 Governor's State of the State speeches. Click here for other excerpts by Chris Christie. Click here for other excerpts by other Governors.
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Page last updated: Dec 10, 2018