term, Christie spent all or part of 520 days out of the state, much of it related to his chairmanship of the Republican Governors Association and his failed bid to become the GOP nominee in the 2016 presidential election. Controversies and investigations The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Access to the Region's Core On October 7, 2010, Christie accepted the unanimous recommendation of the ARC Project Executive Committee to terminate the Access to the Region's Core rail project due to concerns about cost overruns. The Christie administrations' stated reasons for his actions came under scrutiny in 2012 when a non-partisan agency determined his stated reasons to be specious. Others alleged that Christie planned to re-purpose billions of dollars in building funds to use for New Jersey building projects that provided political benefits to his administration, and came at the expense of New Jersey's transit and economic interests. Support from New Jersey voters for his decision to kill the project grew in hindsight, from 51% in October 2010 to 56% two months later. In a controversial move in 2011, Christie directed the PANYNJ to divert money originally earmarked for ARC to highway projects. The agency agreed to pay $1.8 billion to partially fund efforts to rehabilitate the Pulaski Skyway and Route 139, replace Wittpenn Bridge, and extend Route 1&9T, all part of the larger distribution network in the Port of New York and New Jersey. A 2014 article in WNYC claimed: "According to documents and interviews with more than a dozen top-level sources, the governor made clear from the get-go that the agency would be the source of cash for New Jersey's hard-up infrastructure budget. And he and his team proceeded to wrangle billions from the bi-state authority to further his political goals—much of that for projects that had never been under the Port Authority's jurisdiction before." In February 2014, the special joint committee of the New Jersey Legislature investigating the Fort Lee lane closures subpoenaed the PANYNJ for documents related to the ARC project, specifically with regard to projected cost overruns and to discussions related to Christie's appointments to the agency. In March 2014, Christie called for the dismantling of the Port Authority which would give his administration direct access to New Jersey's share of the tolls which the agency now collects and are dedicated to regional transit projects and require approval of both states. NJ Spotlight