NEWARK – Governor Phil Murphy wants a millionaire’s tax to raise revenues to pay for his budget and legislative leadership disagrees.

That’s the core of it right now as talks continue among the main players in this 2019 budget standoff.

“They took one piece of my compromise, we telegraphed it, everyone saw it coming – a millionaire’s tax whch I believe you all voted for five times,” a frustrated Murphy said at the podium in the basement of city hall, turning and addressing the lawmakers who stood on the platform with him: Assemblyman Ralph Caputo and Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker, “that’s the obvious solution here and to think that they’re protecting 20,000 millionaires and in exchange for that we would have to gut the budget or shut the state down – that is particularly mystifying particularly given how well millionaires did under Chris Christie and how well they’re doing under Donald Trump.”

Murphy’s compromise, his rivals gripe, won’t back off that piece, despite what they say is the possible influx of monies from an internet sales tax, and their recurring position on the superiority of a CBT hike from nine to 12% in this environment.

The main players didn’t take the Governor’s letter seriously, say sources, a position confirmed by a bland statement issued in response by Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3) and Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-19).

But the Governor today would not back down.

“We’ve got an obvious solution here and that is if we got the millionaire’s tax things would fall into place,” he said, arguing that the whole budget could get done in 30 minutes.

Lawmakers in off-line conversations continue to resist the tax, and remain expectant of a deal that excludes the tax.

Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-3) has from the beginning of this statewide collision made the case for the corporate business tax (CBT) hike as a better revenue generator than a millionaire’s tax, which targets a more reliable tax base, in his view. That’s where leadership stands, too, giving the impression of continuing tensions as the parties prepared to meet again today.