nj budget

A judge is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit seeking to prevent Gov. Chris Christie from slashing this fiscal year's payment into the public employees' pension fund.

To meet the state's obligations like fully funding the pension system, the two have agreed to propose a tax increase that would impact only the New Jersey residents earning $1 million a year or more.

With Democrats in the state Assembly and Senate recently unveiling alternative budget proposals, both of which hike taxes on New Jersey's wealthiest residents, Assembly Republicans held a State House press conference Monday to blast those plans.

Assembly Democrats unveiled an alternative budget on Thursday one day after Senate Democrats released theirs. While the two plans differ slightly, there is one common element: they both call for hiking taxes on the wealthy in New Jersey.

Not pleased with Gov. Chris Christie’s spending plan, the top two Democrats in the State Senate presented an alternative state budget Wednesday, which includes a tax increase for New Jersey’s wealthiest residents - something the governor has said he would not accept.

The top lawmaker in the General Assembly said lawmakers are not waiting for a court to rule in a lawsuit seeking to stop Gov. Chris Christie from dramatically slashing the state's contribution to the public employee pension system.

New Jersey will collect $2.75 billion less in revenue than Gov. Chris Christie originally anticipated through the end of the next fiscal year, but his treasurer told the Assembly Budget Committee on Wednesday that an argument could still be made for tax cuts.

Watch the Assembly budget committee meet as Gov. Chris Christie announces plans to slash the state's contribution to the public workers' pension system by almost $2.5 billion for the combined fiscal years.

Political observers say with Christie possibly considering a 2016 presidential run, the move to slash the public worker pension fund contribution by $2.75 billion was completely predictable.

Gov. Chris Christie says the administration's proposals for closing an $800 million budget shortage should be ready by mid-week.