Chris Christie’s State Of The State Focuses Squarely On Sandy [POLL]

In his 2013 State of the State Address before a special joint session of the legislature today, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie did tour some of his accomplishments from the previous year as is customary in the yearly message. The Governor talked of reining in property taxes and growing private sector jobs, but his primary focus was Sandy and the state’s recovery from the super-storm.

Sandy the worst storm to hit NJ in 100 years, Gov. Says

“Just three months ago, we were proceeding normally with our lives, getting ready for a national election and the holidays to follow,” says Christie. “Then Sandy hit. Sandy was the worst storm to strike New Jersey in 100 years.  346,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.  Nearly 7 million people and 1,000 schools had their power knocked out.  116,000 New Jerseyans were evacuated or displaced from their homes.  41,000 families are still displaced from their homes. Sandy may have damaged our homes and our infrastructure, but it did not destroy our spirit.”

Sandy Disrupted Economic Life in NJ

The Governor says just when we were coming back from the national recession, Sandy disrupted our economic life. Cars weren’t bought, homes weren’t sold, and factories couldn’t produce. He says common sense tell us Sandy hurt New Jersey’s economy. He admits that some losses we will never get back – electric power that wasn’t produced, visitors who didn’t come to our casinos or our downtown centers.

The Governor explains, “There is no question that Sandy hit us hard, but there is also no question that we’re fighting back with everything we’ve got……… let me make this point clearly and unequivocally. Despite the challenges that Sandy presents for our economy, I will not let New Jersey go back to our old ways of wasteful spending and rising taxes. We will deal with our problems but we will continue to do so by protecting the hard earned money of all New Jerseyans first and foremost. We will not turn back.”

Christie is urging lawmakers to put aside partisan politics and work as a team to return New Jersey to its pre-Sandy greatness.

“The adults are in charge,” insists the Governor. “Let’s accomplish the mission of rebuilding our battered state and restoring the hope and the faith and the trust of our people that government can work in a bipartisan way to restore our great way of life to all New Jerseyans.”