Gov. Chris Christie‘s fiscally austere image took a bit of a hit this week as he decided to use a taxpayer-funded helicopter to go to his son’s baseball game (and use a taxpayer-funded limousine for the rest of the trip). Given that New Jersey isn’t a formidable land mass and the helicopter cost $12.5 million, many in the state– especially those who Christie has demanded have their salaries reduced– were in an uproar, and they seem to have impacted the governor: Christie’s office will now reimburse the state.

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Gov. Christie’s spokeswoman announced today that the luxury ride from Iowa to New Jersey would no longer be on the people’s tab, according to the AP:

A spokeswoman for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says the governor and State Republican Committee are reimbursing the state for all personal use of a state police helicopter, which includes two trips to watch his oldest son’s baseball games.Spokeswoman Maria Comella says Christie has paid $2,251 to the state to

cover the cost of all trips.Comella also says the state GOP has paid $919 to cover the cost of Christie’s trip Tuesday when used the helicopter to fly 75 miles from a game in Montvale to Princeton to take meeting with a group of top GOP campaign contributors from Iowa.

This comes as a change in attitude from the Christie administration, which had initially refused to refund the state for the travel expenses. New Jersey’s state debt topped $32 billion at the end of the past year and was a major campaign issue partially contributing to the success of Gov. Christie’s campaign. Now if only Christie could reimburse New Jersey taxpayers for the extra $440,000 a year his cabinet’s salaries amount to over the Corzine administration, he may actually do something to improve his approval ratings.

Watch the press conference via CNN:
Tags: Associated Press, austerity, baseball, Chris Christie, corruption, Helicopter, New Jersey, Republicans