New Jersey Republicans say Democrats are trying to push through budget without giving them time to read it – Washington Examiner New Jersey Republicans accuse Democrats of trying to push through budget without giving them time to read it

New Jersey lawmakers advanced a $56.6 billion budget for fiscal 2025, marking a 4.2% increase from the current spending plan.

Republicans voted against this fiscal plan, denouncing a lack of transparency.

Republican state Sen. Declan O’Scanlon described the state’s spending as a “runaway freight train of expenditures.”

GOP lawmakers also mentioned they had limited time to review the budget, leaving them unsure of all the aspects it covers.

Paul Sarlo, Democratic Senate Budget Committee chairman, acknowledged that the proposal is too extensive for a detailed examination but affirmed his overall support for it.

“I could not take a test and be quizzed on every line item because it would take hours and hours and days and months,” Sarlo said. “I try to look at it in totality, and that’s where I think we’re at.”

Sarlo did praise the budget for including the largest surplus he has seen in his years in state government, totaling $6.5 billion, along with full funding for both public pensions and the state’s K-12 funding formula.

Introduced by the Democratic-led state Senate Budget Committee, the budget proposal includes tax increases on high-earning businesses and allocates billions for education and transit.

It comes just four days before the constitutional requirement to pass a balanced budget by July 1.

Earlier this year, Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) proposed a billion dollars in new taxes on businesses earning over $10 million, aiming to support New Jersey Transit in the long term.

The state’s transit system has often used capital funds for day-to-day operations, which has restricted resources available for broader system improvements.

However, trade organizations and businesses opposed such increases.

Tom Bracken, the head of the state Chamber of Commerce, questioned why the state would want to penalize “its most profitable customers.”

“What we are doing in the state of New Jersey is taking our largest companies … and we are penalizing them,” he said.

Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, said the higher taxes would hinder the state’s economic growth.

“It is a sad day today when we have to report that our New Jersey policymakers could not do better by New Jersey business and our largest job creators,” she said.

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With an increase from the current 9% to 11.5%, this proposed tax would impact an estimated 600 companies.

Critics are skeptical that lawmakers will allow this increase to be limited to five years, arguing that the state would become reliant on these funds.