TRENTON - Ranking Budget Committee Senator Declan O'Scanlon (R-13) has a beef with those driving the FY2027 Budget, starting with Governor Mikie Sherrill.

"As far as transparency goes, it's a disaster," O'Scanlon told InsiderNJ, in reference to the $60.7 Billion Budget.

Is it really worse than past budget seasons?

"It may be," said the Monmouth-based Senator. "We're starting with a brand new governor who claimed to care about transparency. It's not different. That's a problem. It's unmistakable and it's sad."

O'Scanlon said the Legislature will vote on the budget shortly before midnight as state lawmakers race to get the document finished before June 30th.

"No one has a clue about what's in this budget, not even [Senate President] Nick Scutari or [Speaker] Craig Coughlin," O'Scanlon said.

Not himself.

And certainly not the public.

"Finally, the public is the only one who really counts, and the public will have no opportunity [to examine the finer points of the budget]," he said.

Later, "there will be minor scandals or maybe major scandals when people are not paying attention." But now, when it counts, when the process demands transparency in accord with Sherrill's stated purpose upon coming into office and in the name of improving government in New Jersey, no transparency means more bad government, O'Scanlon said.

"The administration must not ignore broken pledges and promises," the Republican senator added. "There will be pork in this budget. They will have made cuts to other things - they will they have cut things in the budget that were arguably better and more reasonable so they could feed the pork machine."

But we won't know, O'Scanlon lamented.