Senator Michael Testa (R-1) said Governor Murphy’s order for departments to cut spending by 5% shouldn’t come as a surprise after Republicans have long-warned about New Jersey’s looming fiscal cliff.

“Governor Murphy didn’t need a crystal ball to recognize that dire straits were on New Jersey’s horizon – he simply could have listened to my Republican colleagues and I in the Legislature,” said Sen. Testa. “While our proposals for moderate spending restraints were ignored, Democrats in Trenton went on a seven-year-long spending binge only now to act surprised that their tax and spend ideology led us right toward the fiscal cliff we warned about. If Governor Murphy truly wants to fix the mess he’s created, he would embrace Republican cost-saving proposals — but we’d probably have a better chance of convincing Hannibal Lecter to give up meat for Lent.”