Gov. Chris Christie's budget plan is going to have some competition. Assembly Speaker Vinnie Prieto (D-Secaucus) said the goal is for the Democrat-controlled NJ Legislature to unveil an alternative spending plan Monday and possibly pass it and send it to Christie on June 25.
The non-partisan Office of Legislative Services and the State Treasurer both predict the state will have more in revenue next fiscal year than Gov. Chris Christie projected in his budget address. That was welcome news to lawmakers on the Senate and Assembly budget committees, but the new revenue forecasts came with a caveat: they will be inaccurate.
State Senate President Steve Sweeney will be Eric Scott's guest on New Jersey 101.5 FM Monday morning, from 8 to 9 a.m., as Eric sits in for the vacationing Jim Gearhart.
New Jersey revenues are projected to fall $526 million behind Gov. Chris Christie's projections for the coming fiscal year, a top budget analyst for the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services told the State Senate Budget Committee Tuesday.
Senate President Steve Sweeney talked about a variety of issues related to the state budget, including the possibility of reviving a revenue boosting bill that Gov. Christie has already vetoed three times.
At a State House press conference, the Senate president and Senate Budget Committee chairman talked about New Jersey’s current financial situation and they drew a line in the sand.
In February, Governor Chris Christie proposed a $32.9 billion State Budget. Hearings on the spending plan have been going on for months and closed-door negotiations have been taking place for weeks. The constitutionally mandated deadline for a signed and balanced budget is midnight June 30, but it appears the process is way ahead of schedule.