By Justus Wilhoit and Cora LeCates, NJ State House News Service
Just hours before a constitutional deadline on Monday, the New Jersey Legislature sent a record $58.8 billion budget to Governor Phil Murphy – mindful that Congress’ impending vote on federal budget cuts could prompt an emergency dip into surplus.
The governor was expected to sign the plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1, potentially with vetoes of some or all of the $800 million in last-minute expenditures inserted by fellow Democrats who control the legislature. Murphy’s $58.1 billion version, unveiled in February, included a revenue shortfall of more than $1 billion; the legislators’ version left a gap that Republicans said totaled $3 billion.
The Senate and Assembly voted along party lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans against. One Senate Democrat, invoking the U.S. Senate’s earlier vote on Trump’s cuts, appealed for more environmental funding. A Republican colleague likened the budget to a low-budget horror film.
The New Jersey spending plan included $12 billion in school aid and a full $7.2 billion public-worker pension payment. A $6.7 billion surplus was just above the allowable threshold to trigger an inaugural Stay NJ property-tax cut freeze for seniors, which will begin in January 2026.
To raise revenue, lawmakers voted for higher taxes on cigarettes and liquid nicotine for vaping, online casino gambling and sports betting and real-estate transactions exceeding $2 million.
The bill cut $50 million for state employee health benefits, a step that would force workers to make up the difference via payroll deductions. Murphy had previously called for $100 million in cuts as taxpayer healthcare costs rise.
Savings for consumers amounted to tax exemptions on purchases of sunscreen and baby necessities, including soap and shampoo, nursing bottles and nipples, cribs and car seats. For the towns and counties they represent, Democrats inserted hundreds of budget line items for handpicked projects, including municipal pool upgrades, street paving and grants to non-profit groups.
“This budget is a fiscally responsible plan that upholds the core priorities of New Jersey’s working families as we confront challenging economic and fiscal conditions,” read a joint statement issued by Senate President Nick Scutari, Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz and Senate budget committee chairman Paul Sarlo.
On the floor, Senator Andrew Zwicker, a Democrat from South Brunswick, made an unsuccessful plea to direct millions of dollars from the Clean Energy Fund to environmental causes rather than divert to other budget purposes, including NJ Transit employee pay.
“At this very moment, the United States Senate is debating a bill of enormous consequences for the country,” Zwicker said. In the event of cuts, he said, New Jersey stands to lose more than most states on healthcare and clean energy.
The voting in Congress also was on the mind of Assembly member Eliana Pintor Marin, a Newark Democrat and chair of her house’s budget committee. “We are in a period of economic uncertainty, and a time when we need to be cautious,” she said. The $6.7 billion surplus “allows us to safeguard critical shortages.”
Republicans in both houses were critical at every step.
Senator Michael Testa, from Vineland, likened the 373-page budget bill to the 1958 cult horror film “The Blob,” in which a hungry hunk of gelatinous ooze plops to Earth from outer space and consumes everything in its path. A Republican colleague, Senator Declan O’Scanlon, from Little Silver, called the budget a blow to affordability and job growth.
“We’re now staring down a $3 billion structural deficit, a public employee health benefits system in a financial death spiral, a school construction fund that’s completely broke and an unworkable state-mandated housing law that’s burying local taxpayers,” O’Scanlon said.
In the Assembly, the minority party spoke against individual bills.
Republican Assemblyman Paul Kanitra from Brick drew gasps from Democrats when he criticized raising fees on same-day surgery centers and hospital admissions by saying, “I compare this legislation to a junkie stumbling around the streets of Trenton looking for a fix.”
Assemblyman Brian Bergen, a Republican from Denville, said that raising taxes on virtual gambling to 19.75% amounted to “sucking every dollar that you can” from players’ addictions.
“These are people’s losses,” Bergen said. “It’s wrong. I’m ashamed that you would do this.”
Madison Miller contributed reporting to this story.
