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Snooki from "Jersey Shore" speaks at Rutgers University's Livingston Campus March 31, 2011 in Piscataway. She was invited by the Rutgers University Programming Association, a student group.

(Saed Hindash/The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON -- Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill Monday that limits the amount of state funding that can be used to used for speakers' fees at public universities and colleges to $10,000.

The statute, dubbed the "Snooki bill," was signed six years after "Jersey Shore" star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi earned $32,000 for a Rutgers University speaking gig.

But the the bill's prime sponsor acknowledged a few months ago that would not have prevented Polizzi from being paid that much for her appearance.

The reality TV star's honorarium was paid for by student fees after the Rutgers University Programming Association, a student group, extended the invitation.

The new law puts a cap on the amount of state funding that can be used in the future. But it doesn't prevent people from cashing on their speeches at public universities if the money comes from student fees.

"I don't believe this bill would deal with it," Assemblyman John DiMaio (R-Warren) said after the Assembly passed the bill in March. But he said he hoped student groups in the future "would be more judicious. That was not a very productive use of student fees."

The tiny, tan and "pouf-haired" TV personality spoke about her TV show and her philosophy on life, and judged a best abs competition during two, hour-long question-and-answer sessions. Her advice to students: "Study hard, but party harder."

Polizzi's appearance was controversial at the time because she was paid $2,000 more than Rutgers planned to pay Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison to deliver the university's commencement address that year.

DiMaio's original bill (A714), sponsored days after Polizzi appeared at Rutgers, called for zero taxpayer dollars to go to speaker fees. The measure stalled. In order to win over its Democratic sponsor in the state Senate, Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D-Hudson), DiMaio agreed this year to cap speaking fees at $10,000.

The bill passed the Assembly by a vote of 74-0. The Senate passed it unanimously 40-0 in June.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Susan K. Livio contributed to this report.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or on Facebook.