Gov. Chris Christie discusses an NJEA policy that requires members that opt out of the union to still pay over 80% of the annual fee:

Referring to the 1976 hit “Hotel California,” the Republican governor told his audience at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in California on March 23 that after opting out of the teachers union, individuals must still pay 85 percent of the annual dues every year.

“To get out of the union, you pay 85 percent of $731. Then you’re out of the union, but you’ve got to pay it every year, also required by statute. That’s called a representation fee,” Christie said. “The idea is that you’re benefiting from the representation even if you don’t wanna be in the union.

“So, this reminds me, for people of my generation, like the ‘Hotel California,’” the governor continued, before citing the song’s lyrics. “‘You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.’”

Gov. Christie’s remarks were fact-checked by PolitiFact, which ruled that the statement is “True.”