Gov. Phil Murphy has yet to convince the legislature to include his call for higher taxes in the new state budget. On Wednesday, he said he won’t be announcing his decision over whether he’ll sign off on the measure until close to the deadline for a government shutdown.
As NJ.com reports, the governor has asked groups that support his progressive agenda come to Trenton on Sunday for his announcement over whether or not he’ll sign the budget, approved by the state legislature a week ago. The state must have a budget in place by Monday, July 1, or face a shutdown.
Senate President Steve Sweeney sent Murphy a budget that addressed most of the governor’s priorities without raising taxes. The legislative budget increases the number of middle class students at community colleges that are eligible for state aid and increases funding for NJ Transit.
But Murphy, who has made increasing taxes on the state’s highest earners a keystone of what he calls his efforts for a “stronger and fairer” state, has spent the last week criticizing the legislature’s plan while refusing to say if he will sign it, veto it outright or use his line item veto to strip out certain spending items in an attempt to punish his legislative foes.
Sweeney has said the legislature would likely override any Murphy vetoes, and that he won’t consider any new taxes until Murphy takes steps to rein in state spending and reduce the already-crushing tax burden on New Jersey residents.
As of a CNBC interview Wednesday, Murphy continues to contend that state residents, who have consistently listed property taxes as their No. 1 concern, will still be willing to pay even more since the state represents good value for their money.
Quote of the Day: “I think that Gov. Murphy has decided that he’s going to remain a pure, progressive Democratic and that he is maybe going to go down with the ship as a pure, progressive Democrat. He seems to be focusing on making sure that he’s got kind of this ideological purity about all of the things that basically the progressive wing of the Democratic Party wants,” — Seton Hall University political scientist Matthew Hale.
These Ultra-Wealthy Just Made a Surprising Request: Tax Us More!
In an open letter to the 2020 presidential candidates, a group of 19 multimillionaires and billionaires wrote that a “moral, ethical and economic responsibility” exists to impose a wealth tax. And they expressed that they would gladly take on the extra taxes for the sake of the country.
Vox Read more
Top Dem Slams Pro-Murphy Group for Saying Lawmakers’ Budget ‘Screws Working People’
State Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin issued a sharp rebuke Wednesday of a pro-Gov. Phil Murphy group after it called the state budget the Democratic-controlled state Legislature sent the Democratic governor a “scam” proposal that “screws working people in our state.”
NJ.com Read more
Murphy Gets Grumpy at top NJ Dems, Accusing Them of Protecting Millionaires, Opioid Makers and the Gun Lobby
If Gov. Phil Murphy is ever angry, he usually buries it behind measured words and a smile while he’s out in public.
NJ.com Read more
NJ ‘Dark Money’ Law Faces First Lawsuit Challenging Requirement to Name Secret Donors
A libertarian advocacy nonprofit filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging New Jersey’s newly signed “dark money” law that requires political groups to reveal their big-spending funders, legislation Gov. Phil Murphy signed despite earlier vetoing the bill and calling it “unconstitutional.”
The Record Read more
NJ Tax Break Investigations: State Wants Details From Companies, Mostly With Norcross Ties
The Murphy administration is asking six companies for more information about tax breaks they’ve received, potentially signaling future action against them after multiple reports have raised questions about their business practices and incentive applications.
The Record Read more
Mob-Tied Illegal Dumping in NJ May Finally End After Years of Warning
More than two years after lawmakers were warned of mob-driven illegal dumping across New Jersey, state officials have yet to deal with a problem that’s piling up.
NJ.com Read more
Poor Oversight of State Park Leases Cost New Jersey $343,000, Audit Finds
Failure to collect lease payments, assess late fees and enforce annual increases in payments from vendors at state parks resulted in the Department of Environmental Protection losing $343,000 in revenue, according to an audit released Wednesday.
Asbury Park Press Read more
Taxi Union, Lyft and Uber Speak Out Against Proposed Port Authority Fee Hikes
It could be a packed house at Thursday’s monthly meeting of the board of commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The Record Read more
New Jersey First State to Authorize Paramedics to Provide Addiction-Treatment Drug to Overdose Victims
Last year, paramedics in Camden posed a question to their supervisors: What more could they do to help the dozens of overdose victims they were reviving?
Inquirer Read more
Backlash Forces 1 NJ Library to Cancel Drag Queen Story Hour
Despite backlash over a Drag Queen Story Hour in Warren County prompting the event’s cancellation, the program continues to gain popularity across New Jersey.
NJ101.5 Read more
Can Parents Opt Out of New Jersey’s LGBTQ Curriculum Law?
A Hackensack school board member upset over a new state law requiring schools to teach LGBTQ history recently asked whether she might have a right to request to opt out her child from such instruction.
The Record Read more
Lyndhurst Commissioner’s Vote on Son’s Appointment Questioned
Township officials are “researching” whether there was a conflict of interest when a commissioner voted to reappoint her son to a paid position within the Fire Department, according to the clerk.
The Record Read more
