Senate Republicans Comment on Murphy’s FY 2024 Budget Proposal

Senate Republicans said Governor Phil Murphy’s FY 2024 budget proposal is a massive increase in spending, doesn’t provide inflation relief or transparency, and continues harmful cuts to hundreds of school districts.

Senate Republicans commented on Gov. Phil Murphy’s FY 2024 budget proposal saying it’s a massive increase in spending, doesn’t provide inflation relief or transparency, and continues harmful cuts to hundreds of school districts. (©iStock)

Included below are comments from Senate Republicans:

• Massive spending Increases: “Gov. Murphy’s budget proposal for next year is 5% larger than this year’s budget, and it’s 50% bigger than the prior administration’s final budget,” said Senate Republican Leader Steven Oroho (R-24). “That’s a huge and unsustainable spending increase in just six years. We know that billions of that will likely be pork spending that should be redirected to tax relief.”
• Hoarding tax overcollections: “The Murphy administration continues to hoard tax overcollections while people are suffering,” said Senate Republican Budget Officer Declan O’Scanlon (R-13). “Instead of providing real tax relief to New Jerseyans, the governor is building a massive $10 billion surplus that will get devalued by inflation. We should focus on addressing tax bracket creep and providing inflation relief to New Jerseyans.”
• Murphy’s not a tax cutter: “Any insinuation that Governor Murphy is a tax cutter is laughable,” said Senator Michael Testa (R-1). “He’s raised income, business, and payroll taxes by billions of dollars since he took office. His school aid cuts to hundreds of rural and suburban school districts have driven property tax increases across New Jersey. He’s done nothing to stop automatic tax and toll increases or address tax bracket creep as Republicans have proposed.”
• Murphy signed & extended the CBT surcharge: “Governor Murphy signed the corporate business tax surcharge into law and broke his promise by extending it for years until the end of 2023,” said Senator Doug Steinhardt (R-23). “He doesn’t deserve a pat on the back for finally keeping his word to let it expire years late. Even with the surcharge expiration, New Jersey will still have one of the highest business taxes in the nation. It’s part of the reason that New Jersey consistently has the worst business climate in the U.S. in national rankings. We need to do more to make New Jersey more competitive.”
• No indexing of tax brackets, no charitable deduction: “We’re concerned that there’s still no mention of indexing income tax brackets for inflation as we’ve proposed to provide inflation relief to New Jerseyans,” said Senator Anthony M. Bucco (R-25). “This is a simple solution employed by both the federal government and 37 other states to protect low- and moderate-income workers and families from the harmful impact of tax bracket creep. There’s also no deduction for charitable donations to the non-profits that serve our communities. These charitable organizations provide important services in hundreds of communities that government agencies would otherwise have to provide at taxpayer expense. It’s time to finally implement these common-sense proposals that Republicans have offered for years.”
• The debt/pork/pandemic slush funds continue: “We support paying down debt, but we shouldn’t put billions into an opaque slush fund controlled by Democrat party bosses,” said Senator Declan O’Scanlon. “There’s no guarantee any of the money will be used to pay down debt. It can just as easily be used to fund pork projects favored by Democrat bosses and falsely billed as ‘debt prevention.’ That remains true for billions in remaining pandemic relief funds as well. Transparency and oversight of the process for approving the use of these funds needs to increase substantially. Proposed uses of debt and pandemic relief funds should be approved by the full Legislature after open public hearings. The current closed JBOC process is ripe for abuse.”
• Murphy should stop school funding cuts: “Every year since Governor Murphy took office, hundreds of school districts have had more and more of their aid cut, even as total state funding for education has increased,” said Senator Doug Steinhardt. “If we’re going to spend a billion more on schools next year, there’s no reason any district should have their funding cut to the detriment of students and property taxpayers, especially when every district is struggling with the impact of inflation on their budgets.”
• Republicans have offered solutions: “Republicans have proposed fixes to stop wasteful spending and offer inflation relief that Democrats have ignored,” said Senator Steve Oroho. “We’ve proposed more transparent and fair processes for using pandemic and debt relief funds to help taxpayers, lower state debt, and fund important programs. We’ve proposed targeted tax cuts to make the state more competitive, and proposed protecting our schools from harmful cuts in state aid. We can address all of these problems with the solutions Republicans have proposed.”