Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NJ Gov. Murphy's $53 billion budget: More property tax relief, spending on schools, mental health
By
Nancy Solomon
Published Feb 28, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
By
Nancy Solomon
Published Feb 28, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is proposing new assistance for New Jersey residents who need help buying their first home, residents burdened by medical bills and for students facing mental health problems.
These were a few of the programs he touted in his annual budget address before a joint session of the New Jersey State Legislature, in which he pitched a $53.1 billion budget.
Murphy is adding spending while at the same cutting taxes — extending his ANCHOR property tax rebate program to a second year, and allowing a corporate business tax surcharge that targets the state's largest companies to expire.
“We hear from the business community that allowing this surcharge to lapse will mean more money for them to create jobs, to invest in new and more efficient equipment, to lower costs to consumers, and to be able to stay here,” Murphy said.
Progressives have protested the move to eliminate the 2.5% surcharge on each dollar of corporate profit over $1 million — including the think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective, which applauded the governor for his social spending programs but opposes the corporate tax cut.
“By giving a massive tax cut to the most profitable corporations in the world, there’s no promise that the state will be able to fund these public needs in the future,” said Nicole Rodriguez, the group's president. “Buried in the governor’s budget proposal is a new estimate for how much this corporate tax cut will cost the state, coming in at a whopping $1 billion next year.”
But during the speech itself, there was little acknowledgement that the governor is facing criticism from his progressive base. The crowd on the balcony cheered as Murphy ticked through dozens of programs he said he is excited about.
The governor is proposing a pilot program that would relieve medical debt, which he called “a burden that has weighed heavily on the financial futures of countless New Jersey families.”
“Literally, for pennies on the dollar, we can remove a crushing weight holding down many families to get them back on track. No one should go broke simply because they were ill,” Murphy said.
At the recommendation of his Wealth Disparity Task Force, which looked at closing the state's racial wealth gap, Murphy aims to expand the state’s existing Down Payment Assistance Program with another $15 million for first-time homebuyers.
Murphy also had a surprise in his speech: He is moving his offices back into the Capitol after a renovation that has been in progress during the entirety of his governorship.
“After nearly six years, the renovation of the Executive State House is finally nearing its end,” he said. “I hope to be here and working in my new office in just a couple weeks. Feel free to stop by."
The annual budget address lays out what the governor plans to put in his proposal, which he sends to the state Legislature. Then, the Legislature comes up with its version, and both houses vote to approve it. In New Jersey, the governor can veto specific lines in the budget before approving it.
The address drew criticism from environmentalists, who say he is not spending enough on climate change.
“Gov. Murphy’s proposed budget reveals a shocking lack of urgency in addressing the climate crisis despite repeated commitments to the contrary and a historic $10 billion surplus,” said Amy Goldsmith, state director of Clean Water Action.
She criticized the state’s ongoing reliance on drawing from its Clean Energy Fund to support other programs, most significantly NJ Transit, which the governor boasted would see a sixth year without fare increases.
“The governor has been talking a big clean energy game, but the continued raids to the Clean Energy Fund mean that programs to make clean energy accessible to lower-income residents continue to be out of reach or delayed for those most in need,” she said.
Murphy acknowledged that the residents of New Jersey are getting squeezed by high inflation and the highest tax burden in the country, and promised more help.
“For far too long, leaders from both parties have stood at this podium talking around property taxes without actually doing anything real about them,” he said. “We stopped just talking about them and did something.”
Last year, Murphy introduced the ANCHOR Property Tax Relief program. The deadline to apply is today, with rebates available up to $1,500 for homeowners and $450 for renters. Murphy says his budget will extend that relief into a second year of the program, at a cost of $4 billion over the two years.
He is also proposing doubling the state Child Tax Credit up to $1,000 per child.
“This will give working and middle-class parents an even bigger tax break,” Murphy said.
He also proposes expanding pre-K programs, with about $1 billion in funding, $110 million more to what the state spent this year. That would include $40 million dedicated to bringing pre-K to new districts.
“Pre-K isn’t just a smart investment in early childhood education — an investment proven to pay dividends throughout that child’s life. It’s also an investment in working families,” Murphy said.
The governor would continue to expand state funding of K-12 public schools, raising next year’s contribution by $830 million for a total of $11 billion in school funding. Murphy said that would maintain New Jersey's public schools' ranking as the best in the nation, help kids recover from the interruption caused by the pandemic, and relieve some of the burden of school funding on local taxpayers.
His budget proposal includes funding for more tutoring needed to help students with the learning loss they experienced during the pandemic. He said it boosts school funding by 30% since he took office five years ago.
Despite the increased funding, Murphy said he is achieving more spending without putting the state in more debt or raising taxes. He is proposing his third consecutive full payment into the state’s pension fund, which was in a perilous state after eight years of partial payments under the Chris Christie administration.
Murphy has also added to the state’s surplus and says he will continue that in the next fiscal year — putting it at $10 billion, or about a fifth of the overall budget.
“Why is this important? Because for too long our fiscal house stood on a foundation of sand,” Murphy said. “Practically every year, the budget was signed knowing full well that the fiscal year would end in a looming deficit.”
State Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) disputes the idea that the governor’s proposed budget is fiscally responsible. The state budget continues to rise, and while New Jersey is getting an injection of funding from federal COVID relief, infrastructure spending and climate change investments, O’Scanlon said he doesn’t think the proposed spending is sustainable.
“These are the things we have to worry about. We need to be looking at being fiscally responsible, and preparing for those monies going away,” O’Scanlon said.
In a collection of statements released by state Senate Republicans, O’Scanlon also criticized the surplus as “hoarding” funds that could instead be put toward tax relief.
Senate Republican Leader Steven Oroho said the budget was 5% larger than Murphy’s last, and 50% larger than the Christie administration's final one. Republicans also criticized Murphy’s administration for aid cuts some individual districts have seen, even as overall aid has increased.
The governor’s budget also adds support for mental health funding, including support for kids in school and additional money to fund a statewide rollout of ARRIVE Together, a program at the Office of the Attorney General that pairs police officers with mental health workers.
The address had fewer political swipes at Murphy’s predecessor than some of his past budget speeches. A notable one, however, involved the state rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Christie pulled out of the climate change agreement with Northeastern states and Murphy re-entered it three years ago.
“Leaving RGGI was a failure of leadership. It was a fiscal failure that cost us nearly $280 million,” Murphy said. The cap-and-trade pact earns money for states that auction off emissions credits to power plants. The money earned is then invested in projects to move the economy away from fossil fuels.
Tagged
new jersey
Politics
Nancy Solomon
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Construction to kick off on the Bronx's first busway next month
The city transportation department plans to make East Tremont Avenue a premier destination for the Boogie Down's bus riders.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Jul 30, 2026 at 6:30 a.m. ET
A people’s guide to the ‘Commie Corridor’ of Brooklyn and Queens
The stronghold of young, leftist and college-educated voters fueled Mayor Zohran Mamdani's rise.
By
Brigid Bergin
News
A people’s guide to the ‘Commie Corridor’ of Brooklyn and Queens
The stronghold of young, leftist and college-educated voters fueled Mayor Zohran Mamdani's rise.
By
Brigid Bergin
Federal judge dismisses Trump administration lawsuit over New Jersey voter rolls
By
Giulia Heyward
Confusion reigns over eligibility for Mayor Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax
By
Walter Wuthmann
and
Brigid Bergin
MTA settles suit to make subway elevators more reliable
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .