GOP governors eyeing the White House have plenty to lose at home

Christie has a fiscal mess on his hands in 2015, as he’ll grapple with transportation-funding struggles and the state’s pension system. But unlike the other other three governors, he’ll have to handle them while working through a state legislature controlled by Democrats.

New Jersey’s transportation trust fund will run out of money by June 30. Democratic lawmakers want to increase the gas tax to address the funding disparity, and while Christie hasn’t ruled out that possibility, raising taxes just before running for the GOP nomination is not a desirable option for the governor. During his monthly appearance on WKXW-FM this week, Christie reiterated that “everything is on the table for discussion, but that there has to be fairness to the people of New Jersey and how we do this.”

Additionally, the fight over the state’s pension system will continue to spill over into the New Year. Back in May, Christie cut the payments that were scheduled to be made to public employees’ pension funds over the following 14 months by roughly $2.4 billion, to deal with a budget shortfall. The trustees for the state’s largest pension funds sued Christie last week, demanding he make the payments. However the legal battles turn out, Christie and the state legislature must decide how to fund the pension system in the new budget, which is due by the end of June. The pension-reform deal Christie struck with state lawmakers back in 2011 was once seen as one of his signature achievements (he even touted it during his speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention), but now the issue is looking like more of a vulnerability.

Christie is expected to outline more specific plans during his state of the state speech in January and budget address in February.