Christie Vows To Revisit Newspaper 'Revenge Bill' In 2017

Gov. Chris Christie

Gov. Christie on Thursday night blasted the newspaper industry as hypocritical for fighting against a bill that would lift a state requirement that legal notices be published in newspapers.

On his "Ask the Governor" radio show on WKXW New Jersey 101.5 FM, Christie said newspapers had been "unmasked" in the legislative fight as "feeding like pigs at the government trough."

The bill, which stalled this week, would allow legal notices for things such as foreclosures, proposed ordinances, and public contracts to be posted free online, according to philly.com.

Christie called the mandate to publish paid legal notices a "government-ordered ripoff" and scoffed that anyone finds them valuable except newspapers.

"No one reads this stuff," he said.

The New Jersey Press Association, citing a 2011 survey, said the annual cost of the legal ads is close to $20 million, with one-third of that paid by governments with taxpayer funds.

Christie has argued that the figure was $80 million. He said on the radio program that his administration came up with the figure from a review of newspapers, but he declined to get into details.

Instead, he questioned the $20 million estimate and challenged newspaper publishers to open their accounting books.

Christie vowed to revisit the issue in 2017, his final year in office.