N.J. Democrats nix budget, saying theirs will be fairer
Christie's plan, they say, lacks property-tax relief and funding for schools, social service.
TRENTON - Democrats who control the Legislature have decided to reject the budget that Republican Gov. Christie has proposed for the coming fiscal year and draft one they say will be fairer to working families and the state's most vulnerable residents.
Democratic leaders in the Senate and Assembly agreed Wednesday to draft an alternative budget bill. They said they would discuss funding priorities with fellow Democrats in private meetings Thursday. The bill will be drafted over the weekend.
The Legislature has eight days to get a bill passed in both houses and send it to the governor. If a budget isn't signed into law by the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, state government technically would shut down. Neither Democrats nor Republicans want that to happen.
Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D., Middlesex) said the Democrats' budget would reflect the party's priorities to provide property-tax relief to the middle class, more funding for public schools, and to restore programs and services to the state's most vulnerable residents.
"The governor has a very different set of priorities and values, and this budget will reflect the Democratic vision that looks out for working men and women of New Jersey, looks out for the vulnerable in our population, looks out for senior citizens who are in need of property tax relief," Buono said Wednesday.
The governor "fulfilled his constitutional duties in the budget process by presenting his budget to the Legislature," Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said.
"Once the Legislature fulfills its own obligations and moves a balanced-budget bill, the governor will review that proposal and exercise his constitutional duties and obligations again, as needed," Drewniak said.
Christie proposed a $29.4 billion budget in February, but things have changed. The Supreme Court ordered the state to put another $500 million or so into the poorest public schools, and the state treasurer identified an additional $500 million or so in revenue because April income tax collections were more robust than anticipated.
The Democrats' version will rely on a rosier revenue forecast provided by its legislative budget officer, said two people familiar with the alternate budget, and on lapsed and overfunded accounts to help pay for programs and services they want restored: more aid for education, a reversal of cuts to nursing homes and medical day-care co-pays, and some funding for Urban Enterprise Zones.
Women's health clinics would get $7.5 million in the Democrats' budget and an earned-income tax credit for the working poor would get a $25 million appropriation. The people spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the alternative budget bill hasn't been introduced.
Democrats are likely to propose reinstating a surcharge on the state's highest wage earners. The so-called millionaires' tax would generate about $500 million. Democrats say the tax would represent true "shared sacrifice," which has been the governor's mantra.
Christie has promised to veto any tax hike.
Budget hearings are scheduled in both houses of the Legislature on Monday, with final budget votes next Thursday.