O’Scanlon’s Amendment Tabled by Democratic Majority in Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee

Democrats in the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee voted against $8 billion of tax relief proposed by Senate Republicans to help New Jersey families and small businesses struggling with high gas prices, inflation, and property taxes.

Democrats in the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee voted against $8 billion of tax relief proposed by Senate Republicans to help New Jersey families and small businesses struggling with high gas prices, inflation, and property taxes. (Pixabay)

“Democrats have offered shockingly little tax relief in their budget proposal despite the Murphy administration having $9 billion in tax overcollections and another $3 billion in federal pandemic relief funds sitting in the bank,” said O’Scanlon (R-13), the Senate Republican Budget Officer. “We gave them an easy opportunity to support the $8 billion of tax relief that Senate Republicans proposed, but they refused yet again to help struggling families across New Jersey. Their resistance to giving money back to taxpayers immediately as we proposed is absolutely mystifying.”

O’Scanlon offered the Senate Republican tax relief plan as an amendment to S-2914, a Democrat bill that would create a ten-day sales tax holiday for school supplies, such as pens and pencils, notebooks, and binders.

The amendment, which was immediately tabled by the Democratic Majority on the Budget Committee, would have incorporated the $8 billion of tax relief previously proposed as part of the comprehensive Senate Republican budget plan into the Democrat legislation.

The $8 billion of increased tax relief that Senate Democrats voted against today includes:

• $4.5 billion through a pair of “Give It Back” tax rebates (S-2243 and S-2290) totaling $1,500 for millions of families;
• $1 billion of property tax relief by reversing Governor Murphy’s proposed cuts to municipal aid and school aid, fully funding extraordinary special education, increasing the veterans property tax deduction, and more;
• $790 million in structural tax reductions, including raising the retiree income exclusion to $250,000, creating a deduction for charitable contributions, and eliminating the CBT surcharge early; and
• $2 billion to halt planned tax and toll increases by indexing state income tax brackets for inflation, replenishing the Unemployment Insurance Fund to prevent upcoming employer/employee payroll tax increases, stopping automatic toll increases on January 1, and rescinding a major tax increase on the state’s largest health insurer and its customers.

“Governor Murphy and legislative Democrats want to give New Jersey taxpayers scraps, not the real tax relief they need to get through this difficult time,” said Senate Republican Leader Steven Oroho (R-24). “While Senate Republicans have proposed a plan to give back billions to New Jersey taxpayers, our colleagues on the other side of the aisle remain focused on adding billions in pork spending.”