the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, Governor Murphy signs off on another “Crazy Eddie” budget for New Jersey. The New Jersey Senate and Assembly passed the FY24 Budget along party lines late this afternoon. The budget, a record $54.3 billion.
On the last day of the season, Assembly Democrats – and later Senate Democrats – this afternoon passed the $54.3 billion 2024 State Budget, running over the protests of minority Republicans, who bemoaned a lack of transparency, ballooned spending, and a bulging rainy-day fund, all cast in the name of “the good.”
Details of the FY24 Budget were not made available until today and the public did not have an opportunity to weigh in on the details.
Bob Hugin, Chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee (“NJGOP”), questioned the process, “Democrats should feel ashamed of the complete chaos and ineptitude that produced the most irresponsible budget we have ever seen. The process – completely controlled by the Democratic leadership – was so shrouded in secrecy and incompetence that legislators did not even have an accurate copy to read during the committee vote. We now know that in the dead of night, Democrats added over a billion dollars in spending for their own pet projects. Families here are already facing an affordability crisis at home and will now be further burdened by the Democrats’ out-of-control spending,” said Hugin.
NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka was concerned with the sustainability regarding the $54.3 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2024, “We also maintain our concerns about the sustainability of our increasingly expanding budgets year after year. This FY24 budget is more than 7% higher than last year’s and is 56% higher than when Governor Murphy took office in 2018. We remain concerned that this rapid increase in spending will not be sustainable without future tax increases that would reverse any down payment toward competitiveness made in this budget.”
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