christie addresses the new jersey league of municipalities annual luncheon. | ap photo/julio cortez by matt friedman 11/17/16 03:51 pm est atlantic city <u+2014> with lt. gov. kim guadagno, who publicly opposed him on the issue, looking on silently, gov. chris christie delivered a speech thursday to hundreds of local officials in which he defended his decision to raise the state's gasoline tax. though christie could easily have been speaking directly to guadagno, he didn't mention her name once during his 45-minute keynote address to the new jersey state league of municipalities convention. story continued below <u+201c>the fact is it was time for real leaders to stop playing politics and make hard decisions,<u+201d> christie said, defending his decision to raise the gas tax by 23 cents per gallon. guadagno was supposed to deliver the keynote address , as she has at several previous league conferences. her speech this year was highly anticipated, with christie possibly leaving office early to take a job in president-elect donald trump's administration, making her acting governor. but in a snub to guadagno, christie on wednesday evening abruptly decided he would speak to the convention instead, and on thursday afternoon took a state helicopter to atlantic city to deliver it. his decision came so late that the league did not have time to update the program attendees found on their seats <u+2014><u+00a0>it still listed guadagno as the keynote speaker. guadagno, who has yet to announce whether she will run for governor next year, was there for the duration of the luncheon. christie breezed in an hour into it and, after delivering his speech, left just as quickly. the lieutenant governor, seated less than 10 feet from the podium, showed no visible reaction as the governor gave his address. <u+201c>everyone<u+2019>s going to play politics with an issue like this, but this is what second term governors were invented for,<u+201d> christie said of the gas tax. <u+201c>i don<u+2019>t have to run for anything. i don<u+2019>t have to pretend you can fix this problem without increasing a tax. i don<u+2019>t have to pretend that it<u+2019>s bad policy to dedicate a tax for the very purpose it<u+2019>s being paid for.<u+201d> christie emphasized that the gas tax would be accompanied by a cut in the state sales tax, an increase in the earned income tax credit and tax exemptions for veterans and a phase-out of the estate tax. he also defended the narrowly-approved ballot question to devote all gas tax funds to the transportation trust fund. guadagno opposed the ballot measure as well. <u+201c>we need to set aside the politics of this issue and we need to be honest with each other about it,<u+201d> christie said. <u+201c>there will be some who disagree. that is their right. let them disagree all they like, but when they disagree, make them tell you the 'or else.<u+2019> what will happen if we don<u+2019>t do this?<u+201d> christie devoted the second half of his speech to speculation about his future, saying again that he has "every intention<u+201d> of finishing his final year in office but not ruling out resigning to taking a position if offered one by trump. christie became an early supporter of trump's candidacy after his own presidential campaign failed and was named head of trump's transition team. however, he was demoted from that position last week. recent news reports have indicated trump<u+2019>s son-in-law, jared kushner, is thwarting christie<u+2019>s future with the administration because of a decade-old grudge stemming from when christie put kushner's real estate developer father, a major democratic donor, in prison. <u+201c>i have no reason to believe, as we stand here today, that i will do anything other than serve out my full term as governor and turn the keys of the office over to whoever you select in november 2017 to replace me,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>now, i am not completely unaware of the circumstances of last tuesday. the one thing you should know for sure is that i<u+2019>m going to leave this job in exactly the same way i came into it: loudly.<u+201d> still, christie indicated he would feel fine if he isn<u+2019>t tapped for a job in washington. <u+201c>i will remind you of what my oldest son said to me when i dropped out of the race for president in february. i looked at him and said 'i hope i didn<u+2019>t disappoint you.<u+2019> and he said to me 'you know, dad, i wouldn<u+2019>t worry about that, you<u+2019>ve had a pretty good run.<u+2019><u+201d> christie urged everyone to get behind trump, saying <u+201c>both parties<u+201d> needed a <u+201c>truce<u+201d> on questioning the president<u+2019>s legitimacy <u+2014> something trump spent several years doing in questioning president obama<u+2019>s birthplace. not everyone in the room heeded the advice. four members of the highland park borough council walked out during the governor<u+2019>s speech, councilman jim walsh said. <u+201c>we can<u+2019>t normalize hate and oppression in this country,<u+201d> said walsh, who is also president of new jersey food and water watch. <u+201c>the governor has stood with donald trump in bringing in an administration into the white house which intends to do awful things to my fellow americans.<u+201d> guadagno showed no signs of irritation with the speech, calling it a <u+201c>fabulous opportunity for the governor to come here and talk to the municipalities and make his argument about the (transportation trust fund).<u+201d> <u+201c>i fully intend to make the speech that i wanted to make today sometime in the very near future,<u+201d> she said. matt friedman's must-read briefing on the garden state's important news of the day our morning email about new jersey health care policy and politics a morning email with must-read analysis and breaking news on new jersey politics and policy. matt friedman's must-read briefing on the garden state's important news of the day
with guadagno looking on, christie defends gas tax hike in speech to municipal officials
matt friedman