Sen. Steven Oroho, (R-24) the Senate Republican Budget Officer, issued the following response to Governor Murphy’s Budget Address:

Sen. Steve Oroho responds to Gov. Murphy’s budget address. (SenateNJ.com)

“If we enacted the structural reforms outlined in our bipartisan ‘Path to Progress’ report, the tax increases the governor is proposing would be completely unnecessary. The announced health care savings are a positive step, if they prove to be true. We haven’t seen any details yet that would help to verify those claims. I’m concerned that the governor still hasn’t addressed the critical need to enact reforms that have been proposed on a bipartisan basis to sustainably rein in the costs of providing pension and health care benefits over time.

“I’m also extremely troubled about the governor’s income tax proposal. The continued outmigration of wealth from our state puts tremendous pressure on our fiscal stability and the governor’s latest proposal will only continue that trend if adopted. New York Governor Cuomo recently echoed those sentiments, saying this type of income tax increase ‘would be the worst thing to do,’ because those impacted can easily move. Let’s leave this proposal at the doorstep and work on lasting revenue growth.

“We witnessed many school districts from around the state come to Trenton today to protest education funding cuts. The governor’s budget maintains the status quo, hurting many school programs and increasing the property tax burden in those communities. I would hope the Senate Republican “Every Child Counts” plan represents the start of a discussion on truly making school funding fairer for all districts in New Jersey.

“While I will give the governor credit for exercising some caution by not bloating the budget further with excessive new spending, I think he missed the mark by not fully embracing true structural reforms to government. Over the next several weeks and months ahead, I stand ready to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to scrub the governor’s budget proposal as we look to adopt a responsible fiscal plan that moves our state forward and makes it more affordable for all New Jerseyans.”