Monday night, presidential candidate Chris Christie will return to the New Jersey 101.5 studios.

But the program's called "Ask The Governor," not "Ask the Presidential Candidate." Critics have been hammering Christie for months for spending too little time in his home state. It's one of the reasons (almost several) the New York Times argued he should drop out of the race in an editorial last week.

One thing's clear: There's no shortage of issues to deal with at home. We can't promise all of them will come up during tonight's show — the conversation only goes an hour and is as much prompted by callers as host Eric Scott. But here's a few of the most urgent issues for Christie to address — whether in our studio or beyond.

NEW JERSEY'S ECONOMY: It's a hard truth Christie likely wishes wasn't so when he's out on the campaign trail — and most New Jersey residents wish wasn't so, period: New Jersey's economic recovery is still lagging behind the rest of the country's. New Jersey's unemployment rate fell to 5.6 percent in September with 20,200 jobs being added over August — but that still compares to a national rate of 5.1 percent. New Jersey Policy Perspective noted back in April NJ had only recovered 68 percent of the jobs it lost in the recession — compared with a national figure of 135 percent.

Meanwhile, tax revenues have slowly climbed back to where they were around 2009, but are still way down from pre-recession levels.

That can't all be put on Christie. In 2010, he walked into a mess as the Great Recession remained a powerful force nationwide. Superstorm Sandy walloped a lot of infrastructure and business in 2012 (more on that below). And the state's got a heavy reliance on industries like financial services that still haven't fully recovered.

Much of Christie's effort has been focused on holding the line on taxes — and trying to improve on an expensive business climate that started pushing businesses out of the state well before he took office. Those loses have cost New Jersey jobs and tax revenue, and that's a problem acknowledged broadly by both major parties. But we're still in rough shape — so where do we go from here?

NEW JERSEY'S CREDIT RATING: This is one closely tied into New Jersey's economic issues. Three major rating firms have downgraded the state's bond rating a total of nine times since Christie took office, the last being earlier this year.

That's a record for a New Jersey governor — not that the state had a spotless credit record under his predecessors. As PolitiFact reports, the state's previous record was held by Democrat James McGreevey, with six drops in less than three years (Christie's been in office twice as long).


"Ask The Governor" is hosted by Eric Scott. Tune in at 7 p.m. or come to NJ1015.com and watch the program live.

The governor (and presidential candidate) will be taking your calls at 800-283-1015 — but the phone lines fill up quickly. It's a good thing that's not the only way to get your question heard:

  • Join in our live chat at NJ1015.com — The chat will open up at 6:30 and continue through "Ask The Governor" and our follow-up roundtable, "Inside Ask The Governor."
  • Tweet your questions to @NJ1015 using the hashtag #AskGov during or ahead of the show. Selected Tweets will be featured on NJ1015.com as well.
  • Ahead of the program, leave your questions in the comments section below.

NEW JERSEY'S PENSIONS:  Much of that credit difficulty is attributable to the state's — and Christie's — mixed record on pension payments. New Jersey doesn't pay in nearly enough to keep its pension system viable. And while Christie's championed — and advanced — reforms, even he says the ones in effect don't go far enough.

It's another problem that long predates Christie, but the system's remained broken under his watch. And a budget Christie signed over the summer slashed pension payments to about a third of what actuaries require to keep the fund solvent — a move the state Supreme Court later ruled he could make.

It's not like Christie has exactly been silent or complacent on the issue. In 2011, he struck a deal with lawmakers and public workers to increase contributions in exchange for a number of concessions (higher payments from employees and a higher retirement age among them). A study by the Manhattan Institute credited New Jersey for being one of the few states to break through political logjams and enact money-saving reforms, though aspects of that plan have faced several legal challenges. But it's that deal he dismantled with his successful case before the Supreme Court.

A state pension commission earlier this year proposed a plan to save the state billions in retirement and healthcare costs by reducing benefits for many public workers. Employees would move to a system that in some ways resembles a 401(k)-style defined-contribution plan. Also notably, school districts would take on the cost of retiree health benefits and pension plan payments — expenses that should be offset through the reduced costs of the plans. But Moody's warns that if those trade-offs don't work out, school districts could be on the hook for huge costs.

And meanwhile, the State Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to the 2011 reforms, over a freeze on yearly cost-of-living adjustments for pensioners.

So the whole thing remains a mess. And while it's one Christie's given a great deal of attention, it's a problem not going away anytime soon.

NEW JERSEY'S SANDY RECOVERY: It's been just over three years since superstorm Sandy battered the Garden State, damaging or destroying thousands of homes.

As WNYC reports, just 2,000 of the 8,000 families in the state’s primary homeowner grant program have completed construction and returned to their homes. But not all the news is bad: most have received at least an initial payment, and the home-return rate doubled in just the last six months.

Still, 12 percent of those responding to a Monmouth University poll on Sandy recovery said they don't expect to ever be able to return home, and two thirds said they felt forgotten by the state.

Meanwhile, the state is getting ready to take beachfront property owners to court over their reluctance to allow tall dunes to be built on their properties — a move meant to help buffer the Shore should another Sandy-level storm ever hit New Jersey again.

Christie made a big promise on the third anniversary of Sandy, just a few days ago — that before his time as governor comes to a close, "there will not be a family who is still hurting today who will not have their issues addressed," NJ.com reported.

That's just after Senate President Stephen Sweeney, joined by Sandy victims, accused the governor and state of doing a "piss poor" job on Sandy recovery overall.

There's plenty of blame to go around on the Sandy recovery — federal and local bureaucracy, issues with individual towns, problems with contractors and so forth. But New Jersey hasn't completed the job yet — and Christie's promise to help all the remaining families is a tall order. We'd like to hear the plan.

GAS TAX AND TRANSPORTATION TRUST FUND: Christie doesn't want it. New Jersey residents don't want it. But some lawmakers say a hike to New Jersey's gas tax is about the only way to help the state's in-crisis Transportation Trust Fund.

Meanwhile Christie's own suggestion to tie any gas tax increase to a cut in real estate and inheritance taxes also gets little support from those recently polled by Rutgers-Eagleton. And critics say increasing a gas tax paid by almost everyone while decreasing an inheritance tax paid by relatively few would be unfair to the poor and the middle class.

Meanwhile, the Transportation Trust Fund faces depletion next summer. So if the gas tax is a non-starter (or at least a tough sell), what's the better solution?

So far, no one's come up with a solution with broad support or a path to action. Could Christie? It would be hard for a governor who's built his reputation on pushing back against taxes at any time — but with the conservative base of the Republican Party watching every candidate's move, it'll be even harder.

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