Ahead of the governor’s budget address, Republican lawmakers are laying out their fiscal vision for New Jersey. And it includes help for schools and property owners. Assembly Minority leader John DiMaio (R-Warren) on Wednesday unveiled a plan that would fully fund New Jersey’s schools by using the state’s surplus account, which has more than $6 billion in it. Republicans argue about $1 billion to $2 billion of that money would enable New Jersey to meet school-funding obligations for the first time since 2008 when the formula was set.
In return, school districts would have to lower property taxes dollar for dollar. Gov. Phil Murphy last year increased state education aid by more than half a billion dollars, but it didn’t come with a requirement to reduce local property-tax levies as the GOP proposal suggests.
