NEWARK, NJ: As the New Jersey Legislature prepares to approve the nearly $61 billion Fiscal Year 2027 State Budget, New Jersey Citizen Action (NJCA) welcomes a strong budget that makes meaningful investments in working families and helps mitigate some of the harm caused by recent federal budget cuts.

In a press statement today, NJCA Executive Director Dena Mottola Jaborska said: “At first glance this is a strong first budget from Governor Sherrill that largely meets the moment for New Jersey's working families, containing important supports for low- and middle-income families with policies that fairly raise the revenues needed to fund them.

“We welcome several key provisions, including lowering the income eligibility threshold for the Stay NJ property tax relief program from $500,000 to $200,000. We have long advocated for reforms that better target Stay NJ toward seniors who truly need assistance remaining in their homes.

“We also applaud the budget providing a temporary 25% expansion of New Jersey's Child Tax Credits. This is exactly the kind of policy working families need as they continue to face affordability challenges. But we are deeply concerned that this budget does not appear to include additional funding for the Child Care Assistance Program that serves our lowest-income households. The Child Care for All NJ campaign had called for an additional $30 million in the budget to strengthen New Jersey's child care system. Without stronger investments in affordable child care, too many parents will continue to struggle to stay in the workforce and be forced to choose between their careers and their children.

“We appreciate the budget includes several important appropriations to help mitigate the harm of the recently enacted federal H.R. 1 and preserve access to care for New Jerseyans. By maintaining funding for Medicaid, supporting access to care and community health providers, the state is taking meaningful steps to help New Jerseyans obtain and keep the healthcare coverage they need.

“We applaud provisions closing longstanding corporate tax loopholes. Closing corporate tax loopholes is long overdue and advances tax fairness in our state, ensuring corporations pay their fair share to fund health, transit, education and other state priorities from which we all benefit.

“While we wished for more, we also are glad to see the budget has provided some funding for the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium. Strong local media is essential to a healthy democracy.

“However, we are disappointed that the funding for VITA tax prep programs was cut by 80% over last year. This will have a great impact on nonprofits working to ensure low- and moderate-income families can access the expanded Child Tax Credits and other working family tax credits like Earned Income Tax Credits. These tax credits are not as impactful if working families are not able to access them. Our Newark-based VITA program serves residents across the state, alongside many nonprofit partners, to ensure that low- and moderate-income families are not paying hundreds to have taxes prepared by commercial tax preparation companies. We look forward to working with Governor Sherrill and the Legislature to restore this funding in the coming year to maximize the impact of the enacted policies to help working families.

“Overall, the budget represents a positive step forward. There is always more that can be done for families who need more support and opportunities, and we look forward to working with the Governor and the Legislature to continue that progress to build an even stronger and more equitable New Jersey.

“We will say this though. While we appreciate the work that went into crafting this budget, the process remains deeply flawed. Earlier this year, lawmakers from both parties proposed commonsense reforms that would have required the budget to be publicly available well before the final vote. Unfortunately, those recommendations were ignored. The people's business should never be rushed. Last-minute amendments to major legislation should not be voted on without meaningful public scrutiny. We urge legislative leaders to reform this process to make it more transparent and accountable.”

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