In response to Governor Murphy’s 2023 budget address, New Jersey Citizen Action releases the following statement:

Dena Mottola Jaborska, NJCA Executive Director:

“Today Governor Murphy outlined his budget plan for 2023-24 and touted a large surplus as well as numerous worthwhile investments. We applaud the Governor’s plans to invest in the arts, parks, affordable housing, promoting homeownership, revitalizing urban centers and other programs and projects that serve the public’s best interests. We did not see or hear it in the Governor’s presentation, but we will continue to advocate for state investment to expand and improve the workforce and in modern technological systems that the state needs to better deliver its important programs. Another element we continue to advocate for and hope to hear more about is the Murphy Administration’s plans to reign in health care costs, especially hospitals and prescription drugs, that created a crisis for state workers this year. The Governor’s plans to double the child tax credit and continue the ANCHOR program are important supports for families striving for economic security and we praise how those measures will help New Jerseyans.

“The healthy financial outlook of our state is a direct result of smart tax policy and budget decisions that the Governor and Legislature has made for the past 5 years. Together they have made multiple, historic investments in racial and social equity initiatives while also restoring the state’s damaged fiscal condition. That is why it is so disappointing to hear the Governor propose and defend a sunset of the state’s Corporate Business Tax Surcharge (CBT), which could undermine his and the Legislature’s most important achievements they have delivered for working people. This tax cut will only benefit a small handful of New Jersey’s wealthiest businesses at the expense of the vast majority of New Jerseyans. We need our leaders to make long-term, sustained investments in the working people of New Jersey, not temporary investments that come and go. Vulnerable communities cannot build upward economic mobility overnight.

“Despite what our lawmakers are claiming, letting the CBT expire will lead to significant cuts to important programs New Jersey has proudly built over the last few years, in healthcare, education, the environment, transportation, and more. Likely not this year or next, but in the near future the CBT sunsetting will put future state leaders in an impossible dilemma between keeping the state’s financial health in order or keeping our families’ economic security in order. We do not want or need to make this choice. We do not need to give a huge tax cut to the wealthiest corporations, especially at the expense of millions of hardworking New Jerseyans.”