NJ Gov. Murphy delivers budget address focused on making state ‘best place' to raise a family

Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is delivering a $55.9 billion spending plan for the fiscal year of 2025 on Tuesday, that puts a specific focus on making the state the best place to raise a family.

In a statement ahead of Tuesday's presentation, Murphy said his proposal was intended to "keep our state and economy moving forward."

“Our budget proposal has been crafted to support the working people and families who keep our state and economy moving forward. And it will build upon our Administration’s commitments to lowering costs, creating opportunity, prioritizing safety, and above all, ensuring New Jersey remains the best place to raise a family," he said in a statement.

In his opening remarks, Murphy addressed the struggles that Ukrainian families face overseas as well as the issues local families see when they look at their finances at the end of every month.

With the needs of families in mind, Murphy said that he wanted to present a budget plan that, he argued, will put more than $3.5 billion "back in the pockets of New Jersey taxpayers."

In fact, Murphy said, he wants the budget proposal to provide a way for the state to "spend within our means, while stretching every dollar to protect our neighbors in need."

"At a time when those at the very top are doing better than ever, many of our families are struggling to afford the basic necessities," he said.

Efforts to save taxpayers money

In a statement from Murphy's office, the plan is noted to include a proposed surplus of $6.1 billion, "while redirecting nearly 74 percent of the total budget back out into our communities in the form of grants-in-aid for property tax relief, social services, and higher education, as well as State aid to schools, community colleges, municipalities, and counties."

In explaining his efforts that would, as he said, put money "pack in the pockets of New Jersey taxpayers," Murphy argued that the proposed budget includes more than $3.5 billion in direct property tax relief.

The budget proposal, his office noted in a statement, funds the successful ANCHOR Property Tax Relief Program, which provided $2.2 billion to more than 1.9 million residents in the most recent filing season. 

This will be the third season of the ANCHOR program, which has provided more than $4 billion in direct tax relief in the past two years, his office said.

He said the budget also includes $82.5 million to maintain expanded eligibility for the Pharmaceutical Assistance for the Aged and Disabled and Senior Gold programs to further cut costs for life-enhancing – and life-saving – prescription drugs.

"From lowering the cost of prescription drugs to lightening the weight of property taxes, our budget will help more families save more money," he said.

Investing in New Jersey's youth

Also, Murphy’s proposed budget includes an increase of $908 million in direct K-12 aid for public schools, for a total of an almost $12 billion investment into the next generation.

He also said that the proposal would make universal pre-K a reality in New Jersey, by setting aside an additional $124 million for pre-K education, of which, he said, $20 million will be used to expand into new districts, creating over 1,000 new seats for children.

The proposal, he said, will also put $15 million towards investments to attract, train and retain teachers in the public school system and allocating more than $100 million to support Cover All Kids, a health coverage program for children.

The proposal, he said, also focuses on making sure children in New Jersey have enough to eat by providing $30 million towards free school meals.

"There are some politicians in other states who do not consider this a priority," said Murphy. "Instead of feeding our kids they want to get rid of child labor laws and put our kids to work. Well, we do things differently here in New Jersey. We are ridding hunger from the lunchrooms and putting more kids in our classrooms."

Dedicated transit funding

Governor Murphy hopes to add a dedicated funding stream for NJ TRANSIT through a cooperate transit fee which would hit the state's wealthiest corporations with net taxable income greater than $10 million.

Small and medium-sized businesses would not be impacted, he noted, arguing that nearly 2,500 companies will see their taxes decrease.

This funding, he said, is intended to ensure service is maintained as ridership continues to recover from the pandemic while building upon major operational improvements.

Funds for pensions, parks and veterans

Along with these initiatives, Murphy said that his proposed budget would provide a $7.16 billion payment to the pension fund.

It also includes $120 million for the State Police Training Center and $ $70 million to support state parks, which would be used to revitalize Liberty State Park and break ground on the Garden State Greenway.

And, in an effort to protect veterans, the proposal also includes $21 million to convert veterans’ homes to single occupancy and another $2 million to provide new beds and medical equipment veterans’ homes statewide.

Overall, he said, the budget was designed to move the state forward as "the best place anywhere in America to raise a family."

"We have crafted this year's budget, letter-by-letter, line-by-line, to support the working families who have led New Jersey through hard times," he said. "With our budget, we will make life more affordable for more families."

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