New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine is set to sign into law today the state's $28.6 billion fiscal 2010 budget after lawmakers passed the spending plan last week.
Legislators also approved a $400 million bond referendum for open-space initiatives and a stimulus bill that aims to increase business activity through tax-increment financing.
The state's new fiscal year begins Wednesday. Corzine will sign the budget today, according to spokesman Robert Corrales. It is anticipated that he will approve the bond bill and the stimulus measure as well, although a signing date has not been set.
The Senate approved the fiscal 2010 budget in a 22-to-17 vote after the plan passed the Assembly by 45 to 34. The budget bill did not gain any Republican support in either chamber.
"It is unfortunate that not one Republican member of the Legislature saw fit to support a budget that reduces state spending by 12% - an unprecedented downsizing - at the same time it responsibly protects spending on education and provides billions of dollars in much-needed property tax relief," Corzine said in a statement after the budget passed through the Senate late Thursday evening.
On June 18, the administration announced that a tax amnesty program will generate more than $600 million of revenue, more than $400 million above what officials originally anticipated the program would bring in. That windfall enabled lawmakers to restore property tax rebates for homeowners earning $75,000 or less.
The fiscal 2010 budget compares in size to the state's $28.7 billion fiscal 2006 budget. It is roughly $100 million less than what Corzine submitted to the Legislature in March and under the current $30.2 billion fiscal 2009 spending plan.
GOP members last week said a one-year income tax increase on the individuals earning $400,000 or more would encourage higher-earners to leave the state. In addition, they said lawmakers should make additional cuts to bring expenditures in line with decreasing revenues and pointed to the administration's decision to lower pension contributions and push out maturities on bonds to generate short-term savings.
"I will continue to maintain this is a dishonest budget and one whose repercussions will be felt for years to come," said Assembly Republican budget officer Joseph Malone in a statement. "The governor conveniently omits speaking about the 1.2 million middle-income people who will not derive any property tax relief from this plan."
Residents will weigh in on a $400 million bond bill in November that would help to preserve parks, farmland, historical landmarks, and forestry. The bond proceeds would help sustain the Garden State Preservation Trust, which will run out of funding this month. While voters have passed numerous open-space bond bills in prior years, lawmakers last week reduced the borrowing amount by $200 million as a smaller debt amount may help ensure that the referendum passes.
In addition, lawmakers approved a stimulus bill that would allow for more tax-increment bonds, called revenue-allocation district bonds in New Jersey, to help spark business development in the state. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority would sell RADs on behalf of private developers with incremental revenue securing the debt. Municipalities could also issue RADs for public improvements in a designated project area, with new revenue generated from the improvements paying off the debt.
Other bond-related bills that will now head to Corzine's desk include more than $200 million of borrowing for the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust and a measure that authorizes the state's Treasury Department to allocate yearly bond volume limits on debt programs offered through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
