New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Signs Into Law $38.7 Billion Budget
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS/AP) -- New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law a $38.7 billion budget that boosts education, public pension and transit spending and also keeps state beaches and parks open as the July 4 holiday approaches.
"I am really happy, with a couple of exceptions, we got what we got in our budget. We got the overwhelming percentage of our priorities and to me that's a huge deal," Gov. Phil Murphy said.
Murphy, a Democrat, also used his line-item veto to slash $48.5 million from the Democrat-led Legislature's budget. He coupled that with an executive order to hold as much as $235 million in spending in reserve until projected savings are realized or revenues meet expectations.
Murphy acted on the budget, roughly 3% above the previous year's, on Sunday, hours ahead of a constitutional deadline.
Lawmakers turned down Murphy's request for a higher income tax on people making $1 million or more but added $50 million more for New Jersey Transit, among other programs.
(©Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
