Gov. Chris Christie Exceeded His Constitutional Authority When He Abolished COAH

Now what?

From the Asbury Park Press:

Gov. Chris Christie exceeded his constitutional authority when he abolished the Council on Affordable Housing last year, a three-judge Appellate Court panel decided.
In its decision, released earlier today, the panel ruled that the state’s Executive Reorganization Act did not give Christie the power to unilaterally abolish independent agencies created by the Legislature. 

COAH was created by the Fair Housing Act, in response to several affordable housing decisions rendered by the state Supreme Court.  

 “Strictly construing the Reorganization Act, we conclude that it does not grant the Governor the power to abolish a legislatively created, representative, independent authority that is ‘in but not of’ the Executive Branch or any department in that branch of the government. Applying this rule here, we determine that the Governor exceeded his authority under the Reorganization Act in abolishing COAH,” the court wrote.  

 Affordable housing advocates hailed the decision.