Assembly Democrats voted down a Republican amendment that would have renamed a Jersey City funding bill with an acronym spelling an expletive as budget tensions boiled over in Trenton.
TRENTON, N.J. — A fiery New Jersey budget battle took an unusual turn when Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia introduced an amendment that would have renamed legislation providing financial flexibility to Jersey City using an acronym that spelled out an expletive.
Fantasia’s amendment proposed renaming Assembly Bill 5348 the “Fighting Unscrupulous City Kickbacks by Jersey City Electeds Act,” creating the acronym “F.U.C.K. Jersey City.” The amendment was rejected by Assembly Democrats during debate over the state’s $60.7 billion budget package.
“No JC bailout loan without documentation, @SolomonforJC! “Trust me, bruh” doesn’t cut it for a $110M loan with seemingly non-existent repayment terms. We need real oversight and to fight unscrupulous kickbacks by Jersey City electeds before we throw taxpayer $ down the drain,” she posted on X prior to the budget passing.
Amendment targeted controversial Jersey City funding
The proposed amendment sought to replace the bill’s title with language reading, “An Act concerning temporary municipal discretion in use of certain funding and related financial monitoring.”
Fantasia then proposed adding a new section stating the legislation “shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Fighting Unscrupulous City Kickbacks by Jersey City Electeds Act,'” according to the amendment distributed on the Assembly floor.
The proposal came as Republicans criticized legislation providing approximately $120 million in state assistance to Jersey City, which GOP lawmakers have repeatedly characterized as a taxpayer-funded bailout. Supporters of the funding say the measure is intended to help stabilize the city’s finances as it addresses budget challenges.
Budget debate grows increasingly contentious
Fantasia emerged as one of the Legislature’s most vocal critics of Governor Mikie Sherrill and Democratic lawmakers during this week’s marathon budget session.
“Yesterday was a morning-into-late-night marathon that culminated in Gov. Sherrill taking a bow for a $60.7 billion duplicitous dumpster fire fraught with misplaced priorities, plenty of pork for the Majority,” Fantasia wrote in a social media post following the vote.
‼️Yesterday was a morning-into-late-night marathon that culminated in @GovSherrillNJ taking a bow for a $60.7 billion duplicitous dumpster fire fraught with misplaced priorities, plenty of pork for the Majority, and the Left clapping like seals over the railroading of NJ families… pic.twitter.com/JmpxcNuyfG
— Dawn Fantasia (@DawnFantasia_NJ) July 1, 2026
She also criticized the legislative process, saying lawmakers received the final budget only hours before voting.
“The last 48 hours have been brutal with the amount of reading, writing & digesting required to get through this debacle (that was dumped on us in the wee hours of Monday morning for a Tuesday vote),” Fantasia wrote. “On about three hours of sleep and a gallon of coffee, we came in swinging.”
Fantasia said she intends to continue highlighting portions of the budget she opposes, including school funding changes, Medicaid employer penalties, corporate taxes, immigration-related legal defense funding, housing mandates and what she described as excessive supplemental spending.
Republicans continue attacking budget priorities
The failed amendment marked another flashpoint in a budget debate that saw Republicans repeatedly criticize Democratic spending priorities.
Republican lawmakers have argued the budget contains unnecessary supplemental appropriations, business tax increases and funding decisions they say disproportionately benefit politically connected communities.
Democrats, meanwhile, have defended the spending plan as one that delivers record property tax relief, fully funds pension obligations, invests in education and infrastructure, and avoids raising individual income taxes.
The budget has now passed the Legislature and awaits Governor Sherrill’s signature.
Key Points
- Assembly Democrats rejected Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia’s amendment that would have renamed a Jersey City funding bill using an acronym spelling “F.U.C.K. Jersey City.”
- The amendment was introduced during debate over New Jersey’s $60.7 billion state budget.
- Fantasia has remained one of the Legislature’s most outspoken critics of the budget, calling it a “duplicitous dumpster fire” and criticizing both its spending priorities and the legislative process.
Related: New Jersey, Dawn Fantasia, Mikie Sherrill, Jersey City, New Jersey Budget, New Jersey General Assembly