The bill would have given tax credit to small businesses

The unemployment insurance payroll tax hike is needed to replenish the Unemployment Trust Fund, which has now been depleted.

For this fiscal year, Gov. Phil Murphy and the Legislature raised taxes by $1.4 billion, and many legislative leaders are opposed to raising them again.

Lawmakers of both parties wondered why Murphy is still using the old, discredited 2008 formula, and not the one they tinkered with last summer.