8th District Joint Budget Statement

 

8th District Legislators rebuke spending increases, but celebrate victories in Governor’s  budget proposal

 

TRENTON – Senator Jean Stanfield, Assemblyman Michael Torrissi and Assemblyman Brandon Umba admonished Governor Phil Murphy’s proposal to increase spending by 5 percent in his 2024 budget proposal, but touted parts of the spending plan where advocacy and bipartisanship paid off.

 

The 2024 proposal would increase spending by $2.45 billion, a 53 percent increase in spending since the Governor took office.

 

“Increasing spending by the large amount Governor Murphy does every year is not sustainable for our state or for the New Jersey people who pay the taxes that make up the budget,” Torrissi said.

 

“We know Democrats love to spend, and unfortunately, they’ve been in control of New Jersey for far too long. As your representatives, we will continue to fight for affordability for the people of our district,” he continued.

 

Stanfield, Torrissi and Umba highlighted specific pieces of legislation they’ve introduced and lobbied for that made their way into the budget – legislation that would provide property tax relief and help students close the learning loss gap.

 

“While Democrats continue to go on wild spending sprees, I was able to work to expand Senior Freeze eligibility by lowering the residency requirement from 10 years to 3 years. This will allow thousands of more seniors to apply for the program and save yearly on their tax bills,” Stanfield said.

 

“It’s dismaying to see the Governor continue to ignore important things like the business community’s call for payroll tax relief, but we need to make sure we can still have an impact as the minority when it comes to helping working-class people” she continued.

 

“I echo the Senator’s sentiments. We have to continue to fight up until the finishing bell to change the mindset in Trenton, cut down on corruption and stand up for our taxpayers. However, we can’t lead by only insulting the other party. We have to bring solutions to the table,” Umba said.

 

“I’m proud that one of my solutions to fix the learning loss gap created by overlong school closures was adopted in this year’s budget. School districts will now have millions of more in high-impact tutoring funding to use to catch our children up. Although it is only a drop in the bucket of what schools have lost due to draconian S2 cuts, the only way to fill up that bucket is to continue to advocate for what we believe in,” he continued.