Christie: A.C. plan gives me ‘all the authority that I would need’

Gov. Chris Christie says he’ll act quickly on the Atlantic City financial rescue bill being considered Thursday by the Legislature and signaled that he’s likely to sign it.

Christie hasn’t commented since the compromise was unveiled Monday and endorsed by an Assembly committee. He said additional amendments are expected to be made Thursday and that he’d like to see those before he announces whether he supports it.

“Let me see what comes to my desk, but I’ll make a decision very quickly,” Christie said on “Ask the Governor.”

“They’re going to do whatever they’re going to do tomorrow,” he said. “Whatever lands on my desk I will look at quickly because there’s no reason to delay. We all know what the issues are here. As long as I have something that I think will ultimately not impact the taxpayers of the state of New Jersey and help save Atlantic City, then I’ll do it.”

Christie seemed comfortable with the contours of the compromise – giving Atlantic City 150 days to develop a plan to balance its 2017 budget and put in place a 5-year plan for fiscal stability, with the state having the power to take over local government operations if the city fails to follow through.

“Everything that the Senate president and I asked for in terms of authority is there. Unless they change it tomorrow in some way. Assuming that it’s what got passed through committee … all of the authority that I would need would be there,” Christie said.