The budget battle is Trenton is heating up as Governor Phil Murphy is threatening to shut down the government if the legislature doesn’t give him all the tax increases he wants. Democrats and Republicans in the legislature are talking to each other in preparation of a possible override of Murphy’s threatened veto. Former Governor Chris Christie is in the mix!
The Trenton budget circus is wilder than it has been since..well since last June when the government shut down while Christie went to the beach.
MMM publisher Art Gallagher will be on the Tommy G Show live this afternoon at 4:06 to give Tommy’s listeners an update on the shenanigans. Read the rest of this entry »
Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik today noted that the State of New Jersey historically shirks its obligations to the “chronically underfunded” pension system while local governments have been meeting their obligations. Hornik’s comment came in a press release touting S&P Global Ratings reaffirming his township’s AAA bond rating.
S&P noted that while the Township continues to make its annually required pension contribution to the State of New Jersey, the State pension system is chronically underfunded. “Local government continues to pay its share, and historically the State has shirked its obligation,” stated the Mayor. “In the context of our review, S&P reiterated its concern regarding the long term health of the State system. I am hopeful that with a new Administration in Trenton, the State will take a more responsible approach to its stewardship of the pension system.”
The town hall crowd showed up Wednesday night in Willingboro to lambaste Gov. Phil Murphy over how New Jersey will dole out aid to public schools in his first state budget proposal. There was worry and anger. Some told Murphy he had let them down. One woman cried, and her 7-year-old son asked the Democratic governor… Read the rest of this entry »
Governor Phil Murphy is holding a telephone town hall on Thursday evening, March 29, at 7PM, according to an announcement from the NJ Democratic Committee. The call in number is 609-236-7033.
I must begin by acknowledging the continued perseverance of the hundreds of thousands of residents impacted by the recent storms. Rest assured, we will not stop until every home is restored power, and we will get to the root of the problem. And, we thank the thousands of workers – including those from out-of-state – who have put in countless and tireless hours to fix downed wires.
Eight weeks ago today, I pledged to be a different type of governor. I pledged to create a stronger and fairer New Jersey that measured success not by what we could do for the few, but by what we could accomplish for all nine million of our residents. Read the rest of this entry »
Gov. Phil Murphy is scheduled to present his first state budget this afternoon in a speech before a joint session of the Legislature in Trenton. Since being sworn in earlier this year, Murphy, a Democrat, has promised to take the state in a new direction after eight years under former Republican Gov. Chris Christie. The budget… Read the rest of this entry »
TRENTON, N.J. – A month after releasing his report of the Arbitration Award Task Force that recommends permanently extending the cap, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) proposed a comprehensive plan to ensure the policies continue to keep property taxes from rapidly increasing. He released the following statement:
“If we’re going to be honest, as effective policy makers it’s incumbent upon us to do the hard work, master the facts and policy nuances before us, and present cogent proposals to the public and the legislature. This list of policy proposals is me doing my job.
“The inescapable logic of permanently tying the arbitration award cap to the property tax cap isn’t hard to grasp. It is fourth-grade math. Any candidate or legislator who claims he needs ‘more information’ or that ‘all the facts aren’t in’ is feigning, in most cases, stupidity to avoid responsibility. Parents try to teach their children to reject such self-demoralizing choices. Read the rest of this entry »
Governor Christie signs the budget. Photo by Tim Larsen
Both houses of the New Jersey Legislature passed a budget last night which Governor Chris Christie signed, ending the three day shutdown of non-essential government services.
New Jersey state parks and beaches will be open today, the 4th of July. Courts, MVC offices and all other state operations will return to their normal operating hours tomorrow.
At at 10pm press conference announcing a deal on legislation to change the State’s oversight of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Senate President Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto said that would ask Christie to support their desire to pay state employees for their forced day off on July 3.
Without a budget from the Democrat controlled State Legislature, Governor Chris Christie ordered non-essential government operations to cease.
In an Executive Order issued at the midnight June 30 deadline for a State Budget, Christie declared a state of emergency and ordered that State Police, state correctional facilities, key child welfare services, state hospitals and treatment facilities, NJ TRANSIT, and operations linked to the health, safety, and welfare of the public, including certain environmental and health monitoring will continue to operate.
Gambling is essential to the operation of New Jersey. The state lottery will not be affected by the closure. Atlantic City Casinos and racetracks will remain open with state oversight.
The budget battle is Trenton is heating up as Governor Phil Murphy is threatening to shut down the government if the legislature doesn’t give him all the tax increases he wants. Democrats and Republicans in the legislature are talking to each other in preparation of a possible override of Murphy’s threatened veto. Former Governor Chris Christie is in the mix!
Without a budget from the Democrat controlled State Legislature, Governor Chris Christie ordered non-essential government operations to cease.