A budget deal is in place, a source told InsiderNJ, set for Thursday debate and Monday passage. The StayNJ eligibility requirements will change but the amount will stay the same, placating Speaker Craig Coughlin.

This from NJ.com's Brent Johnson:

Gov. Mikie Sherrill and her fellow Democrats who lead the state Legislature have reached a tentative deal on a new $60.7 billion state budget, including significant changes to a tax break for New Jersey seniors that was a sticking point in negotiations, four sources confirmed to NJ.com.

A final budget — Sherrill’s first since taking office in January — is not available yet and may not be introduced until Friday, five days before the deadline for it to be enacted.

The GOP immediately decried the situation.

Senate Republican Budget Officer Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth), Senator Michael Testa (R-Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland), Senator Doug Steinhardt (R-Hunterdon, Somerset, Warren), and Senator Carmen Amato, Jr. (R-Ocean) released the following statement regarding news that a budget deal is in place.

“Transparency matters and the lack of it speaks volumes. How much of the proposed $1 billion in tax increases is actually part of the budget deal? How much is a hidden bailout for Jersey City and Newark after years of fiscal mismanagement by their mayors? How much is political pork for a handful of towns’ tiki bars while 500 other municipalities and their property taxpayers get stuck with flat funding and higher bills from Trenton?

“How much political favoritism is being directed to select school districts while hundreds of other schools and their taxpayers face cuts or are denied the formula increases they were promised? How is the remaining $2 billion in unspent COVID funds being shifted around behind closed doors, and what political favors are attached to those decisions?

“The public doesn’t know. Everything is being negotiated behind closed doors, and even the final budget won’t answer those questions. A new governor may put a fresh coat of paint on the process, but it’s still the same broken state budget—one that treats fairness, transparency, and taxpayers as an afterthought.”