The $56 billion budget that Gov. Phil Murphy has asked lawmakers to agree to represents a 3% increase in spending compared to the budget Murphy and lawmakers enacted for the current fiscal year. Counting supplemental spending items put forward since the start of the current fiscal year, including additional funding needed to cover increased demand for Anchor property-tax relief benefits, Murphy’s proposed spending increase for fiscal year 2025 measures roughly 1%.

Murphy’s fiscal year 2025 budget plan calls for full funding of the state’s K-12 public-school aid formula and a full payment for the state’s obligation to its public-worker pension fund. Lawmakers are now reviewing that budget and prepping for final negotiations that could boost, or cut, the proposed spending increase.