TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A New Jersey judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought by lawmakers trying to stop Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s $300 million statehouse renovation plan.
Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson said from the bench that the state Supreme Court ruled in a similar case that the question was moot because the money was already borrowed.
Former Democratic candidates for governor, state Sen. Ray Lesniak and Assemblyman John Wisniewski, argued in court that Christie improperly went around the Legislature to approve the sale of $300 million worth of bonds to fund the four-year project for the dilapidated executive statehouse.
“What the administration has done is jump through hoops to avoid a vote in the Legislature,” Lesniak told the judge.
The project, which Christie announced last year and has said would take four years to complete, has been a lightning rod in New Jersey politics, with members of both parties attacking the price tag as too high and criticizing the method Christie used to approve the bond sale to finance the project. Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, a candidate to succeed Christie, said she’d scrap the project.
Wisniewski said after the judge’s ruling that he would consider an appeal, and cited a 2008 constitutional amendment that calls for voters to approve new debt.
“Bondholder rights trump the constitution. Clearly the bondholders were more important than the debt limitation clause,” he said, explaining what the ruling meant to him.
Christie has said the project is badly needed and defended how it was authorized, saying it was legal and proper.
A joint statehouse commission, whose members include four legislative and four executive appointments, approved the project in an April vote, with seven voting yes and one abstention. The Economic Development Authority sold the bonds to Royal Bank of Canada in May on the same day the sale was approved by the authority.
Jean Reilly, an assistant attorney general representing the administration, said in court Wednesday the bonds have subsequently been sold multiple times.
One big issue on Wednesday was the timing of the bond sale. Wisniewski and Lesniak argued the EDA approval and quick sale indicated that the governor intended to go ahead with the sale even before authority was granted.
Reilly, echoing what Christie said in May, said “there’s nothing wrong” with acting quickly or efficiently. She defended the administration as “acting in good faith” throughout the bond sale.
Parts of the building date to the 18th century and Christie has described it as a “fire trap.” Paint is flaking off the exterior walls, some windows have been boarded over, and duct tape holds in skylights.
Christie has defended the project and said he’s in a perfect position to take the criticism since he’s term-limited.
“I’m the one taking the majority of the heat for this, and that’s fine. That’s my job, but this needs to be done,” he said in May.
Republican state senators Kip Bateman and Michael Doherty were also part of the suit, but were not in court on Wednesday.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.