Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday said "no thanks" to the Jersey Shores trying to lure Illinois companies.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been running ads urging businesses to flee the Land of Lincoln and head to the Garden State.
At a bill signing event in Springfield, Quinn said that Illinois is still well-positioned to compete for business, despite the recent income tax increase.
"I don’t know why anybody would listen to him," Quinn said of Christie. "New Jersey’s way of balancing the budget is not to pay their pension payment, not to deliver on property tax relief that was promised, to fire teachers, to take an infrastructure project -- building a tunnel that had already been started -- and end it and have to pay money back to the federal government. I don't need that kind of advice from that guy."
New Jersey's ads follow a personal appeal from Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who sent letters to 553 Illinois-based companies large and small that will be affected by the tax increases. Illinois' neighbors such as Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri are also bidding for jobs from the economically troubled state.
Christie himself appears in the ads, pledging to hold the line on taxes and promote growth through job-friendly policies.
Christie spokeswoman Maria Comella said the campaign shows that the governor intends to be hands-on about attracting businesses and jobs to New Jersey.
