A record budget in New Jersey — You will pay the price

💲 Gov. Murphy signed new budget minutes before midnight
💲 Budget totals a record $58.8 billion
💲 More than $1 million in tax hikes

A mere 18 minutes before the midnight deadline, Gov. Phil Murphy signed his final New Jersey state budget.

At $58.8 billion, the spending plan set another all-time record, continuing Murphy's legacy of spending more money than the state brings in.

It further adds to the tax burden of New Jersey families by including more than $1 billion in new or increased taxes.

Murphy's ultimate legacy has been a tax and spending spree that has plunged New Jersey deeper into debt and made being able to afford to live in this state beyond the grasp of many.

Since taking office nearly eight years ago, Murphy has increased spending by more than 60% and added billions to New Jersey's debt.

Despite warnings from non-partisan government watchdogs, Republican legislators, business groups and others, Democrats jammed another $727 million into the budget Murphy proposed.

That is not surprising since this is an election year and the so-called Christmas tree spending if what Democratic lawmakers will promote during their local campaigns to retain their jobs.

How did this happen?

It is far easier to spend money than save it.

Even as some Democrats in the legislature told me they were shocked at the level of spending and worried many of the programs Murphy was touting as tax relief cannot be funded in the future, they voted for them anyway.

Now those bills are coming due.

That's what happens when you borrow money to pay for things you cannot afford, and that's what Murphy has done every year he has been governor.

It is the Democratic leadership and rank-and-file legislative members who have allowed state spending to soar. An ineffective Republican minority has been unable to blunt the increases.

Raising taxes to provide tax relief

Murphy has proposed billions of dollars in tax relief in his various budgets. That includes $3.5 billion in his latest spending plan.

However, that relief is not distributed equally among Garden State residents and often does not keep up with the increase in New Jersey's tax burden.

Programs such as ANCHOR, Senior Freeze, StayNJ are popular, but families already struggling under the crush of the nation's highest property taxes and inflationary pressures are offered only a Band-Aid when their family budgets are hemorrhaging money for expenses.

Those programs also come with a cost. Murphy's budgets have raised taxes and fees and eliminated some programs to provide the money.

A historical perspective

The last budget signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie for fiscal year 2018 came in at $34.75 billion.

Christie's first budget, for fiscal year 2011, came in at $28.36 billion and was $1.4 billion less than the previous year.

That was the last time spending was actually reduced year-over-year.

During his eight years as governor, Christie increased state spending by just over $7 billion, or about 8% over that span.

Part of the reason Christie, a Republican, was able to keep overall spending low was by shorting payments into the fund that pays pension and health benefits to public workers and not meeting obligations under the state's school funding formula.

Murphy takes spending to new heights

When Murphy proposed his first budget, he boasted about correcting the cruel and unfair policies of the past.

In doing so, he embarked on a historic spending spree that his critics (and many economists) say is unsustainable.

Murphy's fiscal year 2019 budget came in at $37.4 billion. At the time, Murphy proclaimed, "It is a budget that puts New Jersey families ahead of the wealthy and special interests – and that recognizes that we cannot build a brighter future by acting timidly and thinking small."

In terms of spending, Murphy has gone big

The budget Murphy signed this week came in at $58.8 billion.

In pushing for support of this and previous budgets, Murphy argued he was being more fiscally responsible by fully funding pension and health benefits and fully meeting New Jersey's school funding formula.

However, since taking office, Murphy has increased spending by more than $23.3 billion.

That is an average increase of more than 9% per year, and well ahead of the cost of inflation and any tax relief he promises.

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