WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ON THE FY19 BUDGET…

“The core problem is that the Legislature is refusing the governor’s request for a modest bump in the millionaire’s tax, and a mini-bump in the sales tax of less than one-half of 1 percent. Instead, they are giving him a magic budget, full of fake spending cuts that they promise will cause no pain for anyone.”

– Tom Moran, Star Ledger

“What I can’t begin to understand is the uproar over the raising of the sales tax by an amount so minuscule that I dare say most Jersey residents will not even notice.”

– Bruce Lowry, The Record

“The key fact here is that the wealthy have benefited at the expense of everyone else for far too long, leading to worsening levels of income and wealth inequality. That’s a serious problem that Democrats claim to care about fixing. Now they have a chance to actually do something about it by making sure the wealthy contribute their fair share so that working-class and middle-class families can finally get the breaks and help they deserve…Without making the tax code fairer, middle-class families will continue to suffer. Murphy won his election by telling the truth about the state failing to raise the revenues required to balance the books and make critical, targeted investments. He ran and won on improving opportunities for our educated, talented workforce and helping the many working families who are a paycheck away from bankruptcy. The Legislature needs to help ensure that this popular vision — one that they’ve historically supported — is realized this year and sustained going forward.”

– Gordon MacInnes, NJ Policy Perspective

“Inflated assumptions about incoming revenue. A bunch of ‘audits’ to find phantom savings, even though Democrats ridiculed Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno when she suggested that in last year’s campaign. Blah, blah, blah.  Worse, Sweeney and Coughlin are adding their own Christmas list of spending items. They want to restore $123 million, probably more, in pet projects known as “legislative priorities” that Murphy eliminated. They want to add $143 million in Homestead rebates that Coughlin insists on, and another $62 million in school aid.  This is one heaping helping of hypocrisy. They are resisting Murphy plan to expand preschool and fund generous scholarships for community college students, but they propose spending more than triple that amount on their own projects. So, who is the big spender here?”

– Tom Moran, Star Ledger

Reporters Roundtable with Michael Aron:

“Their revenue schemes, which seem frankly back of the envelope right now. You know it’s kind of weird, here – Democrats – they finally take control and what is the Democratic legislature advancing? Essentially, a stopgap Republican budget without a tax increase.”

– Charles Stile, The Record

“I think one thing that’s gotten a little lost in the conversation is that the legislature is actually looking at more spending than what the Governor has proposed.”

– Katherine Landergan, Politico

“Our members tell us they’re going to freeze their hand on their wallets if this is coming down the pike…We’re concerned about the impacts on our competitiveness and affordability in New Jersey,”

– Michele Siekerka, New Jersey Business and Industry Association President, on the Corporate Business Tax increase proposal

“While corporations are indeed getting a tax cut relative to last year, New Jersey’s state tax policies are still evaluated by prospective businesses relative to 49 other states. Corporate capital is highly mobile; that is, if you tax it too much, it tends to move and then you can’t get any revenue out of it…’”

– Joseph Bishop-Henchman, Executive Vice President, Tax Foundation

“The Legislature has to behave responsibly, so one shots are not going to work. We’ve shown that many times in New Jersey.”

– Hetty Rosenstein, state director of CWA New Jersey

“It was a campaign run last year, and transit riders and transit workers and the people who rely on mass transit here in the state of New Jersey overwhelmingly supported our governor, overwhelmingly supported most of the people in the state Legislature who said they were for sustainable, affordable mass transit.  It’s appalling that we would have any legislators at this time turn around and look the other way.”

– Raymond Greaves, chairman of the New Jersey Amalgamated Transit Union NJ State Council

“I think many families would trade the 70 or 80 dollars a year for universal pre-K, for higher wages, for women’s health, for fully funding schools, maybe housing security.  For the well-being and livelihood of our children, that half penny is nothing.”

– Analilia Mejia, executive director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, calling the reduction in the sales tax a “gimmick.”

“While Airbnb is proud to provide supplemental income for families and an expanded market for businesses, we are also committed to ensuring that our community supports the core public services needed in municipalities from coast to coast and around the world.”

– Andrew Kalloch, public policy manager for Airbnb