When Gov. Murphy originally proposed his so-called 'millionaires tax,' he said it was designed to close a revenue gap in the budget.
However, last week, the governor announced that the revenue generated by this new tax would be spent in the form of rebates which families would receive just before the governor and members of the Legislature stand for reelection in 2021. The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce said at the time that politics had eclipsed good fiscal management.
The final $32.7 billion budget, which the Legislature approved today and the governor said he will sign, contains more proof that the budget is about politics and not responsible fiscal management.
The Legislature took what was already a bad budget and made it worse by weighing it down with hundreds of millions of dollars in additional and last-minute spending allocated to fund pet political projects while still not addressing the economic realities of our state.
Businesses across New Jersey have expressed outrage that they will have this budget strapped on their backs while they are trying to deal with an uncertain economic environment and an administration coming at them for more tax revenue.
Everyone in New Jersey should be equally outraged at the political sleight-of-hand and lack of transparency that added hundreds of millions of dollars in new expenses funded by additional debt.
The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce reiterates that the best path to fiscal recovery and economic growth in this state is to allow businesses to reopen and allow people to get back to their jobs.