Corzine back to work as NJ governor after crash

By Jon Hurdle

PRINCETON, New Jersey (Reuters) - New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine went back to work on Monday, nearly a month after being critically injured in a high-speed car crash when he was not wearing a seat belt.

Corzine, 60, told reporters outside Drumthwacket, the governor's mansion in Princeton, that he now feels strong enough to resume his duties after temporarily handing them to the state Senate president.

Corzine suffered 11 broken ribs, a broken left leg and fractures to his collarbone and sternum in the April 12 accident when the sport utility vehicle he was a passenger in hit a guard rail near Atlantic City after a collision with a pickup truck.

The SUV was traveling at 91 mph (145 kph) in a 65 mph (105 kph) zone.

The governor, a Democrat, said doctors and lawyers had independently assessed his fitness to perform his duties.

"It was important to make sure that both my lawyers and my staff thought I was sharp enough to go forward," Corzine said.

He said it was likely to be at least a month before he returned to his office at the State House in Trenton but he would be able to concentrate on policy work from Drumthwacket while he continues to have physical therapy.

For now, his key concern is the state budget for the 2007/08 fiscal year starting July 1. He said the budget deficit would not be as large as the $2 billion widely reported but officials have "some work to do to get to a balanced number."

"We've got a budget due in six weeks and, by the way, all of us have agreed that we want to get that budget done early so that there are no chances of delay, we're talking the first 10 days of June," Corzine said.

"I don't know where you guys came up with the $2 billion gap, but there's probably a gap in there that needs to be worked on."

He called himself "the most fortunate guy in the world" and said he would regard himself as fully recovered when he was able to jog again.

Corzine spent three weeks in the hospital and said on his release on April 30 he had set a bad example to the people of New Jersey by not wearing his seat belt and asked for forgiveness.

He voluntarily paid a $46 fine for not wearing a seat belt.