NEW JERSEY POLICY PERSPECTIVE PRESIDENT, GORDON MacINNES:

This budget is a step in the right direction for New Jersey, but it does not sufficiently address the state’s long-term financial needs. New funding for public education, transit infrastructure, and property tax relief should help jumpstart New Jersey’s economy, but these critical investments are put at risk by the temporary and volatile funding streams meant to pay for them. The legislature missed an opportunity to fully turn the page on the politically expedient, short-term budget decisions of the past.

That said, it is encouraging that Governor Murphy agrees that implementing combined reporting is an essential part of the corporate business tax increase as it will stop corporations from moving taxable income out of state. The inclusion of a $750 million surplus is a necessary step to rebuilding the state’s fiscal reserves.

Moving forward, the legislature must remind itself of our state’s incomparable assets – location, a highly educated workforce, a strong transportation network, great public schools – and stop short-changing New Jersey’s future. The last eight years have proven that New Jersey’s budgeting process is unsustainable, governed as it is by politics and showmanship that block out essential, overdue investments.