“When you make cuts, they’re not just numbers on a piece of paper. They’re people. They’re impacts on people,” said Senate President Steve Sweeney.

Sweeney ratcheted up political pressure in an increasingly bitter state budget drama, packing a room at the State House with advocates whose social programs and services Gov. Phil Murphy budget proposal cut by $77 million total, just to add up the lists on two poster boards. Sweeney vowed it’s money he’ll restore in a state budget Democratic leaders will unveil next week.

“These are programs that mattered that we shut the government down for, shut down last year. We shut the government down to ensure the funding of these programs, and we’re going to fight again this year because we don’t want to shut the government down. We want to pass a budget, but we’re not going to let our priorities as a Legislature be left behind,” Sweeney said.

It’s a scene that’s familiar from past state budget negotiations, though no less emotional for that. Talks between top Democrats and Murphy do continue, and they’ve reached “99 percent” agreement on school aid distribution, Sweeney said.

“We asked for meetings and we got it today. We had a couple meetings. At least we’re talking. You know, we’re not going to wait until June 30 to pass a budget. That’s when all the mischief takes place,” Sweeney said.

Deep disagreements remain over revenue raisers, sparking the specter of a second government shutdown in as many years. Adding fuel to the political fire is a new ad produced by a group that backs Murphy which debuted Friday.

It highlights Murphy and his progressive agenda and galls the Senate president, who sees it as an attempt to pressure Democrats.

Murphy’s proposed $37.4 billion budget would raise $1.7 billion in revenue largely by enacting a millionaire’s tax and restoring the sales tax to 7 percent. Sweeney’s budget instead establishes a two-year surcharge on the corporate business tax, which he considers a windfall from the Trump tax cut.

“If we’re going to have to tax something, tax corporations that got $2.9 billion for doing nothing. The money fell from the sky,” Sweeney said.

Murphy responded in a statement, “When it came to making the hard choices to fix our problems, my predecessor kicked the can down the road — I won’t. New Jersey deserves a real budget that offers real solutions. I have a simple approach: Fix what’s broken and make sure that everyone is paying their fair share. New Jersey didn’t elect me to paper over problems with the same failed policies of the past.”

“I believe strongly on some things, he believes strongly on others. I was always taught if you don’t like something in a budget process, you’ve got to bring something else to match it. We did. So you don’t like mine, I don’t like yours, then give me something else to talk about,” Sweeney said.

Here’s the calendar: members of the Legislature get a copy of the budget Monday. It goes to committee Tuesday.
Sweeney’s hoping for a vote by Thursday. After that, it’s up to the governor.