Credit: (John Mooney/NJ Spotlight News)
Lawmakers have disclosed new details about the hundreds of millions in spending tacked on to state government’s latest annual budget by majority Democrats just before that budget was enacted in late June.
The last-minute spending written into what would become the fiscal year 2026 state budget was added around the same time majority Democrats signed off on more than $600 million in tax hikes now in effect throughout the state.
These hundreds of individual additions to the final draft of Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed spending plan helped generate a record-high, nearly $59 billion annual budget. Rising cost issues in New Jersey, particularly housing affordability, are major concerns for potential voters this year as the governorship and all 80 seats in the Assembly are on the ballot.
Until late last week, the legislative sponsors of the added spending were not publicly disclosed by majority Democratic legislative leaders. The additional budget details were quietly added to a dedicated page on the legislative website late Friday afternoon.
Information missing on controversial item
Last week, NJ Spotlight News reported that these budget details were not yet public more than a month after Murphy signed the fiscal year 2026 budget into law.
However, some key information appears to still be hidden from public view as of Monday afternoon. This included the sponsor or sponsors of a controversial budget language change that resulted in the allocation of $45 million in opioid legal settlement funds to four hospitals.
Credit: (NJ Legislature)Such legislative spending additions are often referred to as “Christmas tree” items inside the State House since they typically fund pet projects and other discretionary spending approved outside of state-administered competitive grant programs.
And unlike a governor’s draft of the budget, which receives months of close inspection — including a series of public hearings that follow a late-February public address by the governor — the legislative add-ons are typically made just days before the final adoption of the annual spending bill, leaving little to no time at all for public scrutiny.
‘This is the ultimate form of disrespect to the people of the Garden State, and we should all be outraged.’ — Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth)
In all, more than 580 individual records related to the fiscal year 2026 budget additions were published on the legislative website on Friday afternoon.
According to the website, these include a $1.5 million line item for “Township of East Brunswick – Water Main Improvements,” which was sponsored by Sen. Patrick Diegnan and Assemblyman Stanley Sterley, both (D-Middlesex); and a $10.75 million line item to the “County of Camden for Regional Jail Construction,” which was sponsored by Sen. James Beach and Assemblyman Lou Greenwald, both (D-Camden).
Republican complaints
Under legislative rules governing the Assembly and Senate, lawmakers are required to fill out written requests known as budget resolutions for each last-minute addition to the spending bill that becomes the annual budget.
The same legislative rules also require lawmakers seeking such new appropriations, or key changes in budget language, to provide a statement “explaining the proposed changes and the reasons therefor,” as well as a disclosure of any business, personal or family ties to “the intended recipient of any increased funding.”
‘[T]hese budget allocations are being put to use to address a variety of statewide priorities of New Jerseyans and to meet the needs of local communities without added expense to local taxpayers.’ — Senate Democratic Majority Office
Following Friday’s disclosure of additional budget details, Republican lawmakers said their Democratic counterparts are still holding back key information required by the legislative rules, including the full explanations for added line items.
“This is the ultimate form of disrespect to the people of the Garden State, and we should all be outraged,” said Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth).
Republicans also faulted Murphy and fellow Democrats who control both houses of the Legislature for making sure their pet projects were funded in the latest annual budget, even though key social services, such as child-care subsidies and homeless prevention programs, remained underfunded.
‘Excessive pork’
“The real cost of all this excessive pork will result in more people without housing, more people having their utilities shut off, more disabled people not having a safe place to work, fewer children in appropriate childcare settings, and more people with opioid addiction left untreated,” said Senate Republican Leader Anthony Bucco (R-Morris).
In a statement, the Senate’s Democratic Majority Office pushed back against the GOP’s criticism, saying “these budget allocations are being put to use to address a variety of statewide priorities of New Jerseyans and to meet the needs of local communities without added expense to local taxpayers.”
“They are putting resources to work to support programs and services that will improve the quality of life for our residents and to expand opportunities throughout the state,” the statement said.
“The resolutions provide additional information on items already listed in the budget that explains how the funds will be used effectively. They are restoring funding for higher education, health care, pediatric mental health services, food insecurity, reentry services, as well as funding for the arts, public parks and other community programs that are basic anchors for every New Jerseyan,” the statement went on to say.
The Assembly Majority Office on Monday declined to comment about Friday’s disclosures and instead referred back to a statement it issued last week that said the Legislature “follows all rules and laws to ensure the public is able to understand how the state budget reflects their values and improves their lives.”
This story is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
