TRENTON, N.J. — Assembly Republicans announced Wednesday they will not submit budget resolutions this year, saying the state budget process continues to increase spending while worsening New Jersey’s structural deficit.
Republicans said the decision follows weeks of caucus discussions and Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s proposed budget, which they said increases spending by $1.9 billion while using $1.7 billion from surplus funds to help address a potential $3 billion structural deficit by the end of the next fiscal year.
Assembly Budget Officer Brian Rumpf said Republicans will not take part in what he described as a “fictional exercise in fiscal responsibility.”
“You don’t cut spending by spending more,” Rumpf said. “Only legislative Democrats can claim fiscal discipline while growing government by billions of dollars and raising taxes.”
Republicans said they followed Sherrill’s request not to add new spending to the budget unless it was offset by cuts elsewhere.
Assembly Republican Leader John DiMaio said the caucus would not support a process it views as unsustainable.
“This budget still spends beyond our means and sticks taxpayers and businesses with the bill,” DiMaio said. “Families across New Jersey are cutting back because they have to. Democrats in Trenton still refuse to do the same.”
Republicans also criticized new revenue proposals in Sherrill’s budget, including business-tax changes, limits on corporate tax deductions and new per-employee fees on companies with workers receiving Medicaid benefits.
“Taxpayers are tired of the gimmicks, the pork, and the endless excuses,” DiMaio said. “New Jersey doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending addiction.”
Republicans also pointed to late-stage budget additions, arguing many have benefited Democratic districts.
“The public sees the spending after the deals are done and the votes are cast,” Rumpf said. “That’s not accountability. That’s damage control.”
