http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/nyregion/08christie.htmlBy RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA Published: May 7, 2010
A New Jersey appeals court on Friday overturned an attempt by Gov. Christopher J. Christie to sharply limit campaign contributions by government employee unions, saying that he could not make such a change without the Legislature’s cooperation.
Rich Schultz/Associated Press
Gov. Christopher J. Christie, with Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and former Gov. Thomas H. Kean on Friday, said he might appeal.
On Jan. 20, the day after his inauguration, Mr. Christie, a first-term Republican, signed an executive order that would have lowered the maximum contributions by the unions from thousands of dollars — tens of thousands in some cases — to just $300.
In Friday’s ruling, a three-judge panel of the Appellate Division said that such changes go far beyond the governor’s unilateral authority and would require enactment of a state law — an unlikely prospect with Democrats in control of both houses of the Legislature.
The decision is a victory for the governor’s most powerful foes, the unions that opposed him in last year’s election and now are fighting his proposed budget cuts, and the Democrats, who are largely allied with those unions.
The Appellate Division made its ruling effective July 1, to give Mr. Christie time to appeal to the State Supreme Court. Speaking to reporters at the State House in Trenton, the governor said, “That’s something that we are going to consider as an option.”
“The executive order,” he said, “was about achieving a policy objective, and that is to level the playing field so that no one has a greater advantage over the other because of their money. It should be only because of the power of their ideas.”
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