NEWARK – Having voted for the legislative version of the budget, veteran Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (D-28) in the name of compromise this morning told reporters that he backs the olive branch presented yesterday by Governor Phil Murphy.

“A good deal beats a bad war,” said Caputo, appearing at a press conference with Murphy and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka in City Hall.

“The governor is willing to compromise,” Caputo said, noting his agreement with the governor on not hiking the corporate business tax to the highest level of all 50 states.

“The fact is, corporations can’t be taxed to the point where they’re going to leave the state,” added the veteran. “They make a decision on the second they feel they are overtaxed. We don’t have transitional aid as a safety net for those impacted municipalities. This has to be resolved, the governor has taken a bold step and outlined his positions and put forward a compromise. I don’t see any compromise other than this.”

He said he hoped lawmakers would coalesce sooner rather than later around the governor’s proposal, or present their own credible version to avoid a shutdown.