Christie trims New Jersey budget

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TRENTON, N.J., June 30 (UPI) -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie used his line-item veto to trim $361 million from the state's budget before he signed it.

Among the items the Republican governor cut were spending on legal services for the poor, tuition help for low-income college students and an earned income tax credit for low-income taxpayers, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The budget Christie signed included $31.7 million in spending and a $648 million surplus.

The governor said he still wants a tax cut and plans to continue negotiations with the Democratic majority in the Legislature.

Christie also eliminated a requirement that the Department of Corrections report quarterly to the Legislature on halfway houses, The New York Times reported. The state has been turning to halfway houses run by private operators to relieve overcrowding in prisons.

The Times reported recently the halfway houses have been plagued by escapes, in some cases by inmates who have gone on to commit violent crimes. Christie has close ties to Community Education Centers, the company that received $71 million of the state's $105 million spending on halfway houses in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2011.

Michael Drewniak, Christie's spokesman, said the issue was "oddly shoehorned" into the budget. He suggested the Legislature should have dealt with the issue more thoughtfully.

The reporting requirements are still in place but with no timetable.