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'Jersey Shore' Tax Credit Vetoed by NJ Gov. Chris Christie

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on September 27, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has vetoed reality TV show Jersey Shore's tax credit, also known as the "Snooki subsidy."

Now, you may wonder why a TV show like Jersey Shore would get a tax credit in the first place.

Are Snooki, the Situation and Pauly D just special? Is Jersey Shore a form of community service or charity? Any viewer of the show will tell you that it's not.

But, it is a TV production set in the Garden State. And New Jersey has a $10 million tax credit program for movie and TV shows that grants a 20% credit for expenditures accrued in the state. The Jersey Shore tax credit would have come in at a hefty $420,000.

Apparently, the tax credit just didn't sit well with Gov. Christie. In vetoing the credit, he declared that he was obligated to ensure taxpayers wouldn't be "footing a $420,000 bill for a project which does nothing more than perpetuate misconceptions about the state and its citizens."

It would seem that Gov. Christie is not necessarily a fan of the show, which is strange considering all the good it does for the state. Doesn't the governor enjoy the fact that Jersey Shore makes the state's beach life seem like a non-stop party filled with sex, booze and drunken fights?

Okay, maybe not.

But Gov. Christie's action is a reversal considering his earlier stance. Just two weeks ago, a spokesman for the governor's office confirmed that while the governor may not like the show he had no choice but to grant the tax credit. The spokesman called the program "non-discretionary," according to USA Today.

As it turns out, maybe the Jersey Shore tax credit is discretionary after all. Or maybe Gov. Christie hated the "Snooki subsidy" so much that he felt compelled to nix it regardless of the written law.

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