Christie Leaves Door Open For Same Sex Marriage In NJ
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A day after his State of the State address, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was non-committal on whether he would veto a same-sex marriage bill in the Garden State.
Speaking with WCBS 880 anchors Wayne Cabot and Steve Scott, Christie said, "we'll see what happens" when directly asked if he would reject a gay marriage bill.
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"Listen, I'm not in the hypothetical game. They've never been able to get it to a governor's desk. They couldn't get it to a governor's desk when the governor [who] was there said he would sign it," he said.
Christie said he wasn't sure if the Legislature had enough votes to get such a bill to his desk while reiterating he was not a supporter of same-sex marriage. However, he remarked that any decision would need to be made in a "deliberate" and "thoughtful" way.
"The fact is this is a huge societal change that they're talking about here and I think we need to do this in a very deliberate, thoughtful way and get the most input from the public we can before we overturn hundreds of years of societal, legal and religious tradition," Christie said.
The governor also responded to questions about how to pay for his proposed 10 percent cut for all income tax brackets, noting they would be phased in over three years.
He added that the state should "not do the things that have been done in the past where you take a big hit to the budget right away."
Christie also spoke about the delayed Xanadu complex development and spike in tolls on the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike.
As far as Xanadu, Christie believes "it is going to happen," while dismissing concerns about traffic. When addressing the tolls, the governor said he had no choice about the increases because "we promised our bond holders...that they were going to do it."
What do you make of Christie's comments? Share your thoughts in the comments section...
