Earlier today, Governor Mikie Sherrill delivered her first budget address, unveiling a $60.7 billion proposal for Fiscal Year 2027. The budget includes approximately $700 million in new revenues from closing corporate tax loopholes and nearly $2 billion in spending cuts to address a growing structural deficit. Key proposals include reforms to the Stay NJ property tax relief program, expanded child care assistance, and measures to protect New Jersey's health care and family tax credit programs amid anticipated federal funding cuts.

In response, New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) issues the following statement:

Nicole Rodriguez, President, NJPP:
“Governor Sherrill's first budget reflects a serious attempt to grapple with a difficult fiscal moment, and in several areas, it reflects the right priorities. Reforming Stay NJ to limit benefits for homeowners earning more than $250,000 is a smart, targeted fix that directs relief to those who actually need it. Expanding utility help, child care assistance, and preserving the Child and Earned Income Tax Credits send the right signal about whose side this budget is on. Closing corporate tax loopholes — reining in deductions that have benefited large companies at the expense of small businesses and working families — is exactly the kind of structural reform New Jersey needs more of.

“At the same time, this budget plan only gets us part of the way there. The Governor is right that much of New Jersey’s fiscal pressure stems from federal dysfunction and the Trump administration's devastating cuts to programs that families depend on. But the answer to that pressure cannot only be spending cuts, particularly when immigrant families are under attack, one in nine New Jersey children still lives in poverty, and communities across the state are counting on the programs this proposal funds. And as the budget process moves forward, there are real questions about where nearly $2 billion in cuts will land, and who will bear the burden. To truly protect New Jerseyans from the turbulence ahead, the state must go further in asking wealthy individuals and powerful corporations to contribute their fair share. NJPP is encouraged by this start and committed to working with the Governor and the legislature to build on this.”

Read NJPP’s latest budget analysis: What to Look for in the New Jersey Budget for Fiscal Year 2027