Senator Steve Oroho, the Republican Budget Officer, issued the following statement after the Senate passed a $46.4 billion budget with a vote along partisan lines:

“This budget represents a wasted opportunity. There are too many things in this budget that we could have fixed already. That we should have fixed already.

“The Democrats’ plan spends hundreds of millions of dollars on pork projects in an election year and ignores critical areas of need that would have helped stabilize New Jersey’s finances for years into the future.

“With the billions of dollars in federal money and tax revenue that exceeded all expectations, there were things we could have done to help every single resident of New Jersey while the Governor was signing executive orders.

“This budget gave us another opportunity to get things right, but the Legislature came up short.

“The Republicans put forward a plan to save 200 school districts from Murphy’s unnecessary funding cuts, but the Democrats missed the chance to get it right.

“My colleagues and I have consistently called for using some of the billions in State and federal relief funds to overhaul the broken computer systems at unemployment and the MVC, and we pressed to use money from Washington to fill shortages in the state’s unemployment insurance fund.

“This budget missed those opportunities, too, and in a few days, on July 1, New Jersey employers will he pounded by a major payroll tax increase that the Democrats refused to stop.

“We have many things to work on to make New Jersey more competitive, more efficient, and more fair for all. This budget fails taxpayers in this regard.”