Watch Christie is Right to Leave Out ‘Jersey Comeback’ in Speech on PBS. See more from NJToday.

NJPP president Gordon MacInnes appeared on NJTV’s NJ Today on August 23 to discuss a variety of topics with Desiree Taylor, who was filling in as host.

As the Republican National Convention nears, Gov. Christie has said his high-profile keynote speech won’t include anything about his much-touted “Jersey Comeback.” MacInnes says that’s no surprise, given our state’s continued economic problems.

“We have the fourth highest unemployment rate, we have the fourth lowest rate of economic activity, we have the third lowest credit rating,” he says. “So it’s really hard when there are no facts that confirm your story. So I think it makes sense that the governor would back off, particularly in the searchlight he’ll be under at the convention.”

Meanwhile, MacInnes was also asked about the $750 million bond initiative that will appear as a referendum for New Jersey voters this fall. The bond, which would upgrade colleges and universities across the state, would be the largest in New Jersey’s history – a fact has led some to question whether we can afford to move on this.

But MacInnes notes that the question isn’t whether New Jersey can afford to do it, but whether New Jersey can afford not to do it.

“This is just a small catch up of what we need to do,” he says. “There are billions of dollars in a backlog of maintenance of facilities that were built 20 years, 30 years ago, where there needs to be innovations, classroom facilities that are out of date, research facilities that are not keeping up. So there’s just an awful lot to do.”