Advocacy groups rallied on the campus of the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Tuesday morning, outside the room where the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee was holding a first public hearing on Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed budget for the 2025 fiscal year. They called on Murphy to restore a full corporate business tax surcharge that expired at the end of 2023.
“To the Walmarts, the Amazons and the Wells Fargos, it’s time to pay your fair share. …The budget cannot be balanced on the backs of Black and brown New Jersey communities,” said Nicole Rodriguez, the president of the New Jersey Policy Perspective think tank.
At the hearing, members of the business community pushed back on Murphy’s proposal for a corporate transit fee, saying he’s trying to close New Jersey Transit budget holes on the backs of business. Michele Siekerka, the president and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, said, “The Corporate Transit Fee is just another name for the Corporate Business tax that just sunset.”
Also at the hearing, school district leaders asked for their funding to be restored, and community colleges asked for cuts to be reversed.
