TRENTON, N.J. – Assembly Republican Leader Jon Bramnick was astounded after Democratic lawmakers introduced a $32.7 billion budget late Monday that spends $300 million more than Gov. Phil Murphy proposed just weeks ago.
“Governor Murphy and the Democrats have joined together to tax and spend more,” said Bramnick (R-Union). “It is almost impossible to believe how much that they ignore the affordability crisis.”
Included in the Democrats budget is $4 million for a golf program in Essex County, $1.5 million for the New Jersey Hall of Fame, $1 million for Battleship New Jersey, $1 million for continued projects surrounding Hinchcliffe Stadium in Paterson, $500,000 for the Newark Museum, $150,000 for the Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum, and $100,000 for floor replacement for the Wenonah school district.
“We are in the middle of an economic disaster,” continued Bramnick. “Now is not the time to score political points with the budget. Hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents are out of work, businesses are closing up shop or moving out of state. The last thing we should be doing is making New Jersey more expensive.”