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Murphy's $37B budget undergoing legislative microscope

Published  March 31, 2018 2:25pm EDT
U.S.
FOX 29 Philadelphia

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey lawmakers are beginning their scrutiny of Gov. Phil Murphy's $37.4 billion budget proposal.

The Democrat-led Assembly and Senate budget committees opened the season-long budget process with public hearings on the Democratic governor's first budget.

Murphy's proposal makes a number of changes from his Republican predecessor Chris Christie's spending blueprints. The biggest changes include raising income taxes on millionaires, hiking and expanding the sales tax and closing corporate tax loopholes, among other changes.

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Murphy is also funding school aid at a higher rate, boosting the state payment to the public pension as well as for New Jersey Transit.

The hearings come ahead of testimony later this year from legislative budget analysts and the Murphy administration on the status of New Jersey's revenues.