Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey will announce in a speech in Trenton Tuesday that the New Jersey Education Association has endorsed the Republican’s “roadmap” for pension reform. Christie, who made a national name for himself over his public battles with teachers unions in the Garden State, will be coming “full circle” by having the the state’s largest teachers union “come to the table” to negotiate a proposal.

According to the governor’s office, Christie will ask the state legislature to vote for a set of reforms to the state’s pension program, while Christie has said the state will make a $1.3-billion payment to the fund. The governor had attempted to cut $1.57 billion from the fund in his budget, but on Monday a New Jersey judge ruled with public-sector unions, who argued the cut was against state law.