Murphy unveils New Jersey’s fiscal year 2024 budget

NEW JERSEY – Governor Phil Murphy delivered his sixth annual budget speech on Tuesday, outlining a spending proposal for fiscal year 2024 (fiscal year 2024) that builds on historic progress made over the past five years with new investments focused on expanding accessibility, promoting fiscal responsibility, and creating opportunities for everyone to succeed in the next New Jersey.

The Governor’s budget proposal continues to increase direct property tax relief to new heights; once again provides the highest level of school funding in history; submit a third consecutive full board payment; and supports significant investments in the economy, workforce development and public safety.

“It’s a budget focused on the pockets of our families. For the third year in a row, there are no new taxes and more tax breaks for the middle class. Help working families by expanding free pre-K. This will reduce prescription drug costs for seniors. And with this budget, we will have lowered taxes for our working and middle-class families, as well as our seniors, a total of 18 times since we began working together in 2018,” Governor Murphy said. “This budget is specifically designed to help our residents find their place in the next New Jersey by securing their place in the New Jersey of today. This budget is also designed to build even greater confidence in our financial management and our ability to honestly meet our obligations. »

The $53.1 billion spending plan includes a proposed record surplus of $10.1 billion, while redirecting nearly 74% of the total budget as grants for property tax relief, social services and higher education, as well as support for schools, community colleges and municipalities. and counties.

“This budget is built on a solid fiscal foundation that shows we can meet our obligations as we prepare for the future,” Governor Murphy continued. “It will make the third consecutive full payment to our public pension funds. It will set aside more than $2.3 billion to pay off existing debt or prevent us from taking on new debt entirely. And that will better prepare New Jersey for any national or global economic uncertainty for the coming year with a surplus of over $10 billion.

Increased accessibility

Governor Murphy’s proposed budget brings the total number of tax cuts instituted since taking office to 18, building on the 14 tax cuts enacted in his first term, while maintaining ANCHOR and the exemption of the back-to-school sales tax enacted last year, and proposing two new extensions.

For working and middle-class families, the most significant new relief is the Governor’s proposed doubling of the Child Tax Credit that was enacted last year, providing up to $1,000 per child for families with young children.

The proposed FY2024 budget also continues the historic ANCHOR property tax relief program, which offers an additional $2 billion in direct relief for landlords and renters. With this proposed allocation, Governor Murphy will have provided nearly $2 billion more in direct property tax relief in the first two years of his second term than the previous administration did during his entire second term.

Governor Murphy is also proposing additional relief for seniors by expanding eligibility for the Senior Freeze property tax relief program to those whose income does not exceed $150,000. To further help increase affordability for seniors, the proposed budget increases eligibility for the state’s hearing aid and prescription drug programs for seniors to make New Jersey more affordable for people of all ages.

Additionally, for the sixth consecutive year, Governor Murphy has also pledged not to increase NJ TRANSIT passenger fares.

As part of the compromise of Murphy with the better system of public education of the estado and the future of the students of New Jersey, it presupposes an increase of $832 million in aid directa K-12 for the public schools, for a total of casi $11 thousand million. With this latest proposal, the state will have increased overall K-12 support for New Jersey public schools by more than $2.6 billion over six years, an increase of more than 30%, which helps offset local property taxes.

This year, the Governor is also proposing to strengthen its College Promise programs: the Community College Opportunity Scholarship and the Garden State Guarantee. Budget proposal raises eligibility threshold for both programs so students with household incomes up to $100,000 can qualify and increases value of tuition assistance scholarships for more than 20,000 students . It also expands the Some College, No Degree program so alumni with credits get the support they need to complete their education.

Promoting fiscal responsibility

This year, Murphy continued to focus on fiscally responsible governance, delivering a structurally balanced budget and increasing the state surplus by nearly $500 million. The additional surplus brings the proposed total to more than $10 billion, 25 times more than the surplus the Murphy administration inherited, and 19% of the overall budget.

The fiscal year 2024 budget also fulfills the administration’s commitment to public sector employees, offering the third full pension payment in as many years. The $7.1 billion payout, which includes state lottery contributions, brings the total contribution to the pension fund under Governor Murphy to $32.6 billion, nearly triple the $12.2 billion dollars paid under the six previous administrations combined.

As in previous years, the Governor is continuing his commitment to reduce the State’s debt with a payment of $2.350 million to the Debt Cancellation and Prevention Fund. This filing brings the total allocation to the fund to $11 billion. The fund is used to pay down existing debt, while setting money aside to pay for upcoming projects that might otherwise be tied up.

The Governor is also offering relief to help local governments address rising health benefit costs by allocating $200 million in federal funding for plan year 2024 that will be enacted in conjunction with savings reforms to long term.

To address what has become a national crisis, the Governor proposed $86 million for a one-time program to the Department of Human Services to fund the training and recruitment of mental health, addictions, and developmental disorder service providers. development. .

To accelerate learning outcomes, the Governor also plans to dedicate nearly $30 million in federal funds this year to high-impact tutoring and other remedial programs. The budget proposal will also allow for the expansion of community schools, which are created through partnerships between school districts and local providers to provide essential non-academic services to students.

Expanding Opportunities and Promoting Economic Growth

The proposed budget for fiscal year 2024 includes several initiatives to achieve this goal, including using federal dollars to create an urban investment fund to work alongside current and proposed business incentive programs.

The fund would help revitalize urban areas where shifts in work and commuting patterns since the pandemic have reduced foot traffic and created ongoing challenges to community vitality.

Grants from the fund would be flexible and tailored to the needs of cities, and could include investments in arts and culture, beautification projects, public safety and streetscape improvements, investments in the pedestrian environment and new open spaces, and funding to reinvent the use of now underutilized office space.

Murphy is also proposing more than $50 million in new resources to grow the green economy, including an additional $12 million for the clean energy program that was previously awarded to NJ TRANSIT and a $40 million green fund that can mobilize private and federal funds.

To address affordability in New Jersey cities and improve urban vitality, the budget builds on last year’s $300 million investment to create the Affordable Housing Production Fund by proposing an additional amount of $100 million in federal ARP funds for the preservation of affordable units and the development of a new workforce. housing units.

The fiscal year 2024 budget also continues Governor Murphy’s vision for economic development and support for small businesses, allocating $50 million in ongoing support for the Main Street Restoration Program, a small business support program which funds several financial assistance products designed to support the growth and success of New Jersey small businesses.

Murphy’s budget continues to support initiatives that keep communities safe, including support for law enforcement personnel and community-led prevention programs. As part of the Governor’s efforts to reduce violent crime in the state, the budget provides significant investments in the Criminal Justice Division to staff new units and expand existing units with a focus on reduced gun violence, car thefts and exploitation, such as trafficking and labor cases.

The budget also includes significant investments to strengthen the ranks of the New Jersey State Police, allocating $120 million to begin construction of a new training facility for the next generation of New Jersey State Police. New Jersey and offering an additional $5 million for the 166th state class. Troop recruits.

For more information on the Governor’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2024, please see the online budget summary.