Read Chris Christie's Fiery Letter Exchange With Murphy

Looks like the New Jersey gubernatorial transition isn't going as smoothly as promised.

Republican Gov. Chris Christie and Democrat Gov.-elect Phil Murphy had a testy letter exchange this past week that seems to have temporarily ended whatever goodwill was there during the gubernatorial transition period.

In a letter to the governor-elect, Christie appeared miffed that Murphy released his list of demands to the media before he got a chance to reply to them. He also wasn't appreciative of the way Murphy painted the state's allegedly dire fiscal condition.

"As you might imagine, I was shocked to be informed that your personal letter to me (along with a wonderful handwritten note at the bottom) has come into the possession of the press before I was even able to craft a reply," Christie wrote.

"I assume you were not involved in this action; it must just be a fault of your elaborate non-disclosure agreement process which I am confident you will attend to immediately."

In a letter to the governor, Murphy said his most immediate concern is the potential for significant shortfalls in the 2018 budget. These "uncertainties," he said, include:

• $200 million in projected, but uncertain, revenues from increased tax collections;
• $125 million in unidentified state health plan savings;
• $854 million in projected lapsed funds, which have not yet been realized;
• $82.5 million in unidentified budget savings;
• $300 million to $600 million in potential refunds to the federal government for unallowable and/or unsupported Medicare costs;

"These uncertainties are compounded by a sustained effort by Congressional Republicans to rewrite the federal tax code in a way that unfairly targets New Jersey, harms our residents, and threatens our finances," Murphy wrote. "Passage of this federal tax legislation, as presently proposed, would generate even more fiscal uncertainty."

Christie noted that his and Murphy's budget teams met and that he was "perplexed about the outcome of that conversation, at least as translated into the questions in your letter."

"Before addressing the specific questions that you have posed, let me dissuade you of the notion that the budget you are inheriting in any way resembles the budget I was passed by Governor Corzine," Christie said.

Christie said his predecessor, Jon Corzine, "refused to provide me or my transition team any budget updates prior to my inauguration and assured me that he had fixed all problems in the FY10 budget that I was inheriting."

"As I learned from the Office of Management and Budget upon taking office, in actuality, the state needed to close a $2 billion deficit within the next five-and-a-half months," he wrote.

He said that, rather than having an Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund that was $2 billion in deficit, "I am passing to you a U1 Trust Fund that is more than $2 billion in surplus."

"In other words, I can only wish to have inherited a budget in the shape that I am passing to you," Christie wrote. "There is no basis for comparison whatsoever between the fiscal shape of the state today versus this time eight years ago."

He accused Murphy of relying "on obviously inaccurate, second-hand information."

Murphy asked Christie to "take a series of actions to ensure that these budget challenges are not worsened during this transition period."

"These requests are identical to those that you delivered to Governor Corzine when faced with similar budget
challenges during your transition in 2009," Murphy wrote.

Murphy's requests include:

• Freeze all new appointments and re-appointments to boards and commissions;
• Line-item veto any legislation with a fiscal impact on the state budget;
• Veto all discretionary spending items in authority minutes;
• Freeze all professional service, public relations, and consulting contracts;
• Freeze all pending regulations that would incur additional spending;
• Freeze all nonessential hires, promotions and raises;
• Freeze all non-contractual personnel actions, including title changes and transfers;
• Freeze all transfers of funds and directory letter appropriations;
• Freeze all new leases, long term purchasing contracts and other long term obligations including certificates of participation.

"These necessary steps will provide meaningful assurances that the state's finances will not be jeopardized as we transition from one administration to the next," Murphy wrote. "As I said at our first meeting, I am grateful for your assistance and deeply appreciate the graciousness with which you have approached this transition."

Christie, however, said a number of the requests Murphy made are "wholly inappropriate. I will continue to take the actions I believe to be in the best interests of the 9 million citizens of our State as long as I remain governor."

"I thank you for your letter and for the opportunity to clear the erroneous, second-hand information you received from your very new staff. I urge you, as we have done before, to receive a budget briefing personally from the treasurer," Christie wrote. "It will certainly alleviate your unfounded concerns and make you better prepared for the short time you will have to craft an FY19 budget proposal to the Legislature."

Murphy Image Credit: AP Photo/Julio Cortez