Senator Joe Pennacchio criticized Democrat leadership and Governor Murphy for rushing through a budget that is 60% higher than when the governor first took office.
Sen. Joe Pennacchio criticized Democrat leadership and Governor Murphy for rushing through a budget that is 60% higher than when the governor first took office. (YouTube)
“It is incredible to me that despite the state being flush with cash that we are doing a last-minute vote to pass a $54 billion dollar budget that is due no later than today. How can we allow for a committee vote before the duly elected officers had a chance to see what the actual budget contains?” questioned Pennacchio (R-26). “There is no transparency and the budget numbers provided in the budget committee were inaccurate. Legislators cannot do the job they were elected to do when the process is rushed and opaque. Why was this budget not completed and voted on weeks ago?”
As part of the budget deal, Democrats hastily pushed through the StayNJ program, which is an election year promise to possibly deliver a badly needed tax reduction to our seniors — in 2026.
“The wimpy premise of voting for a budget today and waiting to reward senior taxpayers years from now deserves to be confined to the list of comedy of errors that has followed this year’s budget process,” Pennacchio stated. “New Jersey citizens deserve better.”