Statements from Senate Republican Budget Committee Members on Democrats’ Tax Deal

The four Republican members of the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee issued the following statements in response to a tax deal announced by Governor Phil Murphy and Democratic legislative leaders today.

Senate Republican Budget Officer Steven Oroho (R-24):

“Year after year, IRS data shows that New Jersey continues to lose significantly more taxable income from high wage earners leaving the state than it gains from those who are moving in from elsewhere. The Democrats’ tax deal will accelerate that trend, make our State’s finances more unstable, and ultimately drive taxes higher for everyone. While the tax deal may seem like good progressive politics for Democrats with their elections on the horizon, it’s a bad economic move that will only dig the Garden State into a deeper financial hole over the long run. Harmful schemes like this have been happening for years, but the Democrats keep pulling the wool over people’s eyes. They still have done nothing to enact structural reforms that would lower costs for taxpayers.”

Senator Declan O’Scanlon (R-13):

“Governor Cuomo has consistently warned New York’s Legislature of the harmful impact of pursuing an income tax hike like this. He’s not wrong. This tax deal is little more than New Jersey Democrats dangling a shiny object in front of taxpayers’ eyes to distract them from the bigger picture of a billion-plus dollars of tax increases they have proposed that will hurt middle-class families. When you add in the governor’s payroll tax increases, cigarette tax increases, new taxes on health care plans, and higher fees for hunters and to register motor vehicles, New Jersey families will end up paying more in total under the Democrats’ budget proposal, not less. This is a tax-raising budget any way you look at it.”

Senator Michael Testa (R-1):

“Governor Murphy is looking to play Santa Claus with taxpayer money as he heads into his reelection next year. It’s an election year stunt, plain and simple. That’s why hundreds of millions of dollars in higher taxes will be collected over the next fiscal year, but none of the benefits the governor is promising will be paid out until he’s in campaign mode next summer. He’s looking to buy his reelection with your money.”

Senator Sam Thompson (R-12):

“After pushing to borrow and tax billions to support his spending plan for next year, the Governor can’t even claim the tax deal he announced is necessary to plug budget holes that resulted from COVID-19. It’s nothing more than a redistributionist scheme that provides no net benefit for the State’s finances. It’s completely and totally unnecessary. Even worse, the governor is still moving forward with his original plan to borrow and tax billions at the expense of every New Jersey family.”