Republicans serving on the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee detailed proposed changes to Governor Phil Murphy’s FY 2022 State Budget proposal in a letter (click here for PDF) to Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Budget Chairman Paul Sarlo.

Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee detailed proposed changes to Governor Phil Murphy’s FY 2022 State Budget proposal in a letter to Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Budget Chairman Paul Sarlo (Pixabay)

They recommended reforms that would protect New Jersey taxpayers, restore transparency to the appropriations process, and ensure billions in new federal relief funds are utilized effectively.

“We’re concerned that Governor Murphy’s budget plan misses important opportunities to provide tax relief to workers and businesses that are struggling to recover from the pandemic,” said Senator Steven Oroho (R-24), the Republican Budget Officer. “We offered detailed solutions to lower income taxes for telecommuters and prevent an avoidable payroll tax increase on small businesses, all while increasing state revenues. It’s a win-win that the Murphy administration would be wise to accept.”

“Governor Murphy’s budget proposal is heavily dependent on borrowed and surplus funds that resulted from his failure to forecast revenues transparently or honestly during the pandemic,” said Senator Sam Thompson (R-12). “We believe the governor’s proposed budget is fundamentally broken and structurally unbalanced. We’ve proposed sweeping changes to fix the current budget and protect New Jerseyans from massive tax increases that would otherwise occur in future years.”

“The Murphy administration squandered more than $2 billion in federal CARES Act funds while one-third of our small businesses went under and more than two-million New Jerseyans were sent into his broken unemployment system,” said Senator Declan O’Scanlon (R-13). “As the Garden State starts to recover, it’s clear Governor Murphy can’t be trusted with the unilateral authority to spend approximately $6.5 billion in federal relief funds recently sent to New Jersey. We’ve proposed a comprehensive plan to employ the new federal funds effectively, restore legislative oversight, and seek public input through an open and transparent hearing process.”

“Governor Murphy has been dishonest about the State’s finances and he continues to demonstrate why he can’t be trusted with our money or anything else,” said Senator Michael Testa (R-1). “During budget hearings this spring, we learned that the governor’s revenue projections were grossly inaccurate, billions in debt was unnecessary, and important financial information wasn’t provided to legislators in a timely fashion. While Governor Murphy has obfuscated repeatedly to funnel billions in debt, surplus, and federal funds into the next budget to boost his reelection campaign, we think he should show a little concern for what happens to New Jersey taxpayers after Election Day.”