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ASBURY PARK PRESS

CHRISTIE
LIVE TODAY

TUESDAY 06.30.15

Visit APP.com at 11 a.m. today to

watch live Gov. Chris Christies
announcement on his presidential bid.
The webcast can be viewed on
mobile devices as well as desktop.

Gov faces long odds in White House bid

Pundits: Many voters know him and dislike him
BOB JORDAN @BOBJORDANAPP
TRENTON A lot has changed for Gov. Chris Christie
in the past four years.
In 2011, Christie was considered a hot prospect for
the White House, a view seconded in the polls. Nonethe-

less, Christie opted not to compete in the presidential

election held the following year.
Four years later, Christie says hes ready for a presidential run, but its the voters who need convincing.
Christie is scheduled to announce his entry into the
race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination

today at Livingston High School, his alma mater. But

Christies former front-runner status is a remnant of
the seemingly distant political past, thanks in no small
part to the scandal over the George Washington Bridge
lane closures.
What ought to be disconcerting news to Christie:
Hes well-known among the voters but has low favorability ratings, prompting the data journalism site
See ODDS, Page 5A

GREECES FISCAL CRISIS PUTS BIG SCARE IN U.S., WORLD MARKETS PAGE 1B

Track told how

to snag Pharoah

SAVING THE NEW JERSEY PINELANDS: LAST OF THREE PARTS

CONDITIONS RIPE FOR

NEW PESTS,
WILDFIRES

How does Monmouth

Park ensure American
Pharoah will run in
the Haskell? The Triple
Crown winners owner
says the answer isnt
money. Sports, 1C

Dems sought
tax on rich,
get tax cut for
working poor
MICHAEL SYMONS @MICHAELSYMONS_

Climate change is changing the Pinelands as well

TODD B. BATES @TODDBBATESAPP

erhaps one of the biggest threats facing the Pinelands over the long-run is
the tiniest.
Warmer winters have allowed the
highly destructive Southern pine beetle to invade the Pinelands, exacting a
heavy toll.
The beetles smaller than a grain of rice live in
the inner bark of pine trees and feed on phloem tissue.
They are voracious pests, according to a recent scientific study.
Since 2001, Southern pine beetle populations have
destroyed 1,000 acres of pine forests each year, on average, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The beetle peaked in 2010, infesting 14,000 acres,
according to DEP spokesman Bob Considine. The figure actually declined to 6,800 acres in 2011, 6,200 in
2012, 5,600 in 2013 and 1,100 in 2014. But the invaders
are not going away.
What were finding is the beetle is more hugging
the coast and heading north, Considine said in an
email. Its now in Long Island and its been reported in

Southern
pine beetle

Beetle-devastated forests become fire-prone

because of numerous standing dead trees and
accumulated leaf litter. The thinned canopy cover
causes the forest floor and vegetation to dry out
rapidly, boosting wildfire risk. Fires also burn
hotter, making it harder for firefighters to control
them, according to the Department of
Environmental Protection.

See PINELANDS, Page 4A

To see videos, a photo gallery, interactive graphics and other

information about the New Jersey Pinelands rich past, present and
future on APP.com, go to

http://bit.ly/NJPinelandsStress.

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VOLUME 136
NUMBER 155
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TRENTON Handing Gov. Chris Christie a political

win on the eve of the official start of his presidential
bid, Democratic lawmakers moved quickly Monday to
enact his surprise call to increase a tax credit for the
working poor a change benefiting more than a halfmillion New Jersey households.
The Assembly voted 64-4, with two voting to abstain,
and the Senate voted 38-1, backing Christies Friday
proposal to increase the earned income tax credit from
20 percent of the federal level to 30 percent. The change
amounts to a tax cut for some of the states neediest
households, many still recovering from the Great Recession.
Technically, lawmakers voted to concur with Christies rejection of a proposed millionaires tax. The original bill included a plan often vetoed by Christie to
restore the tax credit to 25 percent, as it had been until it
was lowered in 2010, Christies first year in office.
I can care less about the sound bite. I really can. Its
more important that you have working poor (receiving
a benefit), for whatever reason the governor did it,
said Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester.
The fact that hes gone further (in boosting the

See TAX, Page 9A