Lawmakers approved the largest spending plan in state history on Wednesday. The $50.6 billion budget went through the Senate first and passed with a 25-15 vote. The Assembly followed with a vote of 48-30.
Gov. Phil Murphy is expected to sign it on Thursday.
Democratic lawmakers controlling the Legislature praised the final plan but groups from both sides of the aisle are criticizing the fast-tracked process, in which many lawmakers voted on the final budget bill just minutes after seeing it for the first time.
The budget includes funding for beefed-up direct property-tax relief, but also dozens of last-minute additions, including pet projects. Other language inserted into the budget will dictate how more than $2 billion in federal pandemic aid for New Jersey will be divvied up. Those appropriations call for new spending on hospital upgrades, college and university facilities and lead-paint remediation in homes, among many other items.
Editor’s note: The proposed state budget appropriates $1 million to Public Media of New Jersey, a division of the WNET Group that oversees NJ Spotlight News.
