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		</div><p>New Jersey governor Chris Christie has signed his final budget after a three-day state government shutdown that included a viral photo of him lounging on a state beach that was closed to the public because of the budget impasse. The lame-duck Republican governor signed the $34.7bn budget early on Tuesday.</p>
<p>However, he sounded an unapologetic tone over the aerial photos snapped by NJ.com that showed him at the state governor&#8217;s residence at Island Beach State Park. The pictures sparked a global reaction: countless memes featuring a Photoshopped cutout of Mr Christie in the beach chair, headlines on international news sites and a full-scale media blitz from his spokesman.</p>
<p>Mr Christie says it was not a scandal because he was where he said he would be: relaxing with his family.</p>
<p>&#8220;If they had flown that plane over that beach and I was sitting next to a 25-year-old blonde in that beach chair next to me, that&#8217;s a story,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I wasn&#8217;t sitting next to a 25-year-old blonde. I was sitting next to my wife of 31 years.&#8221; The photos are part of a bruising finale for the term-limited governor, who had been a regular on late-night TV and a Republican superstar after Superstorm Sandy hammered his state in 2012.</p>
<p>Mr Christie&#8217;s job approval in New Jersey has sunk to 15%, tumbling after the convictions of three former aides in a scheme to deliberately cause traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge, his failed presidential run and his backing of President Donald Trump. He has become such a political liability that his top deputy, lieutenant governor Kim Guadagno, running to succeed him, hammered him over the beach photos: &#8220;Beyond words,&#8221; she said.</p>
<p>Mr Christie acknowledged his lame-duck status on Tuesday after the budget signing but predicted that if Ms Guadagno wins he still might have some influence with lawmakers &#8211; but less if Democrat Phil Murphy wins.<br />
Mr Christie denied the beach photos played a role in how he negotiated with lawmakers and said it was &#8220;the pressure of a shutdown&#8221; that contributed to the budget resolution.</p>
<p>The deal Mr Christie struck late on Monday with Democratic Senate President Steve Sweeney and Democratic Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto calls for a budget that includes more than $300m in Democratic spending priorities and is part of an agreement to overhaul the state&#8217;s largest health insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield. </p>
<p>The Horizon legislation calls for annual audits of the non-profit&#8217;s reserve level, sets a range for reserves and requires excess to be spent on policyholders. The budget stalemate centred on Mr Christie&#8217;s desire for legislation to overhaul Horizon but the deal includes none of the initial use of Horizon&#8217;s surplus for opioid treatment that he set out to get in February.</p>
<p>Without a budget, state parks were shut down along with other non-essential state services, including state courts and the motor vehicle offices where people go to get driver&#8217;s licences.<br />
Mr Christie said he requested to give state workers a paid holiday on Tuesday and would discuss back pay with lawmakers.</p>
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