The Legislature’s budget is on the Governor’s desk. It is a balanced budget that funds democratic values like NJ Transit, maternity health care, and extraordinary special education. It is a budget that puts money where it is needed, it protects the programs that benefit the most vulnerable and maintains the largest surplus since the great recession.
It does all of this, with no new increase of broad based taxes.
This budget is a big first step to getting New Jersey’s finances back in order. The Path to Progress legislation, coupled with this budget, will allow us to substantially reduce property taxes, without slashing funding for the important services New Jerseyans need.
In the coming weeks, we will be unveiling a Taxpayer Savings calculator on the Path to Progress website, which will show you just how much you and taxpayers in your town will save through the Path to Progress legislation.
You can learn more about the Path to Progress here.
NJ governor undecided on $38.7B budget that lawmakers passed
New Jersey lawmakers on Thursday passed a $38.7 billion budget setting aside billions for public education and pensions and boosting New Jersey Transit funding, but without Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed tax hike on the wealthy.
The budget will arrive on the first-term Democratic governor’s desk in plenty of time ahead of a June 30 constitutional deadline, but whether Murphy signs the bill, vetoes it or line-item vetoes parts of the lawmakers’ spending is up in the air.
Murphy has said that “all options are on the table.” In a letter to legislators on Wednesday he said he would take “corrective action” if the spending plan didn’t have the revenue he sought, hinting at a line-item veto.
In response, Democrat Senate President Steve Sweeney wrote Murphy, saying he’d consider overriding possible line-item vetoes.
Democratic Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said the spending plan is a fair, responsible budget and said he believes the governor will agree once it reaches his desk.
Legislature’s budget applauded by business community – but, most likely, not the governor
The Legislature approved a $38.7 billion budget Thursday, which now awaits the governor’s signature — or veto.
And since the budget is missing one key revenue source Gov. Phil Murphy has been pushing for months — a millionaire’s tax — most feel a veto is coming.
The business community made its feelings known, applauding the budget as is.
“We are pleased that the budget advanced by the Legislature today forgoes tax increases when New Jersey taxpayers have clearly had enough,” New Jersey Business & Industry Association CEO and President Michelle Siekerka said.
“New Jersey desperately needs fiscal reform, not more taxes. Proponents of the millionaires tax often cite two reasons for their support: It’s popular and they contend it’s fairer to ask them to pay ‘a little bit more.’
Just passing the state budget isn’t enough: Keevey
Budget discussions must address long-range fiscal issues facing our state. Simply increasing taxes without addressing critical program changes will not solve our fiscal problems.
Current rhetoric focuses on what the governor does with the budget received Thursday from the Legislature. Does he veto it, line-item veto certain items or approve the budget as submitted? The principal item of disagreement is the governor’s proposal to increase taxes on incomes above $1 million (the 10.75 percent rate currently applies to income over $ 5 million). Expanding the income tax brackets yields approximately $500 million.
New Jersey is at a critical stage. We have the second-lowest credit rating in the country. Our pension systems are one of the worst-funded in the nation (a liability of $ 99 billion. The net liability of the health benefit systems has recently been re-evaluated upwards to $90 billion. Our long-term bonded debt is $45 billion. Our total obligations are $234 billion — the principal number rating agencies analyze to determine our credit rating.
NO MATTER HOW NJ BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS GO, NOTABLE TAX BREAKS IN CARDS
New Jersey residents are set to come away with some notable new tax relief, no matter how the ongoing fiscal tug of war involving Gov. Phil Murphy and lawmakers is resolved this week.
Lawmakers packed nearly $170 million in new tax breaks into the fiscal year 2020 budget bill they sent to Murphy late last week, even as they rejected several tax hikes that were in the governor’s original budget request, including his coveted millionaires tax.
Programs that provide tax breaks to senior citizens, the disabled and veterans are among those that would see more funding under the Legislature’s spending bill.
And then there’s Murphy’s own budget proposal, which calls for about $250 million in new tax relief for residents. Those tax breaks would come in the form of an income-tax credit for an estimated 2 million homeowners and renters who are struggling to pay New Jersey’s highest-in-the-nation property-tax bills. But the credit would only be established if lawmakers have a change of heart on the millionaires tax.
This week is a crucial one for reconciling differences through budget negotiations as a new spending plan must be enacted before July 1 to avoid a government shutdown. While Murphy, a Democrat, has thus far held firm to his demand for a millionaires tax, the governor does not have the power to raise taxes unilaterally, giving lawmakers the upper hand.