Senate Republican Leader Steven Oroho and Senate Republican Budget Officer Declan O’Scanlon released the following statement chiding the Murphy Administration for its handling of the sizeable increase in public employee health benefits costs:

Senators Steven Oroho and Declan O’Scanlon criticized the Murphy Administration’s backroom deal to spare some state workers from costly health benefits increases, but ignored the impact on towns, counties and their employees who will see costs skyrocket. (SenateNJ.com)

“We find the Murphy Administration’s complete lack of transparency regarding higher health care premiums that will result in massive property tax increases to be disconcerting, though it has been a pattern and comes as no surprise.

“The Administration must seriously consider suggested cost savings ideas advanced by local employee unions and others and provide estimates of the resulting savings, and either support them or explain their refusal.

“They must share cost estimates for the few plan changes adopted yesterday, as well as the cost to taxpayers of holding employee cost bumps at 3% while taxpayers pick up the balance.

“It is perplexing that they have bailed out State employees without first identifying real savings. And it is beyond belief that they are ignoring property taxpayers and local employees including police and firefighters who worked throughout COVID and have suffered enough.”