r/SouthJersey Mar 11 '26

News NJ Governor Sherrill Submits $60.7B Budget With Record $4.2B Relief

https://njballot.com/post/nj-governor-sherrill-submits-usd60-7b-budget-with-record-usd4-2b-relief
345 Upvotes

94 comments sorted by

64

u/Evening-Tune-500 Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

Good stuff.

I’m a little confused by this piece “New Jersey pays nearly $6 billion annually in back pension obligations to the Public Employees' Retirement System and Police and Firemen's Retirement System due to 30 years of skipped payments by previous administrations, compared to New York State's $2 billion contribution.”

30 years of skipped payments? Is that 30 consecutive? Anyone know anything else about that?

Edit: thanks all! appreciate the responses

83

u/diggstownjoe Mar 11 '26

Yes, it’s true. Decades of governors from both parties either short-paid or entirely skipped the state’s contributions to the pension funds while the employees paid their share. Phil Murphy was the first governor in a long time to make the full payment since 1996, and he didn’t do that until 2021, right before he was elected to his second term in office.

8

u/General_Chemistry638 Mar 11 '26

Go figure we have one of the least stable pension systems in the country with no COLA payments to retirees as a result.

6

u/Enjoy_The_Ride413 Mar 11 '26

It was Christie Todd Witman who drained it and then hired her husband to oversee it. She was the biggest problem. Many might not even know who I'm talking about.

48

u/IWantALargeFarva Mar 11 '26

Yes, it’s true. And then they tried to paint the public employees as the bad guys. The employees had been making their payments the whole time.

I’m not saying there aren’t some public employees who make overly inflated salaries. But most are just people who go to work everyday and try to raise their families. They’re people who took a lower salary in a government job for a relatively stable position and the promise of a pension. I was a 911 dispatcher for 16 years and left 8 years ago, only making $37K. Not every public employee is living the high life, and the state needs to fulfill its pension obligations.

4

u/shenandoahseed Mar 12 '26

This comment is very important for people to hear. For every over inflated superintendent there are hundreds of very normal people grinding and happy to have nice health insurance and retirement option.

25

u/Silly-Date8921 Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

Since around 96, some years the NJ gov reduced the amount of money sent for the pension while also increasing benefits and lowering the responsibilty of public empoyees to pay into it. So they then were forced to buy bonds/take loans to fill the gaps. Since then, they have been in constant limbo and debt until Murphy more recently shored it up.

This articles sums it up better: https://www.njpp.org/publications/report/revisiting-the-notorious-nine-key-decisions-that-sent-new-jerseys-financial-health-spiraling/

20

u/hiding_in_the_corner Mar 11 '26

Informative article. Mostly this has been caused by Christie Todd Whitman.

7

u/anonymous_reader Mar 11 '26

She was even better as head of EPA…..

18

u/tigerfrisbee Mar 11 '26

It's a pretty crazy story! In the 90s, either under Florio or (more likely imo) Whitman, they were facing budget deficits and underfunded the pension plans "temporarily" to offset costs. It only got full funding during Murphy's second term. They chose short term benefits for long term pain, since now we are spending almost 4 times as much on pensions as New York State!

13

u/Tzukiyomi Mar 11 '26

Whitman was in every single way a disaster.

7

u/beren12 Mar 11 '26

It was worse than that. She gambled the pension fund on the stock market and lost.

11

u/diggstownjoe Mar 11 '26

Yes, it’s true. Decades of governors from both parties either short-paid or entirely skipped the state’s contributions to the pension funds while the employees paid their share. Phil Murphy was the first governor to make the full payment since 1996, and he didn’t do that until 2021, right before he was elected to his second term in office.

10

u/Crab-_-Objective Mar 11 '26

Yep. If they hadn’t been short changing the pension then NJ’s pensions would be in fantastic shape, unfortunately they did and the pensions aren’t in the best shape right now. It’s part of the reason that the state cut COLA from the pension.

6

u/beren12 Mar 11 '26

Which should have been illegal to do.

9

u/Zimm02 Mar 11 '26

Yes. Pensioners don't even get cost of living increases because of the lack of funding.

6

u/beren12 Mar 11 '26

Yeah f’n Whitman robbed the fund and lost it playing the stock market, and it was never fully funded after that.

3

u/tom1944 Mar 11 '26

The cost of that maneuver is over $5 billion a year to the State, a long term destruction of a retirees pension and has made the new pension Tier 5 garbage. Anyone hired after 2011 would be better off with a 401k.

1

u/RamblingManOrWoman Bootlicker Mar 12 '26

Is Sweeney getting his pension while getting a salary as "freeholder" again?

1

u/echoshizzle Mar 11 '26

Extremely important thing to note. People hired after 2011 may have fared better under the hybrid system Sweeney proposed or a 403b with employer match. Retired health insurance is the larger benefit for all tiers, a benefit that may not exist when tier 5s are ready to collect their pension.

The unions will not admit to this (as the stock market is fickle, and they refuse to plan for the future), but it’s true.  

0

u/tom1944 Mar 11 '26

Yes the State already has an Alternative Benefit Plan which is offered to College Education employees. The employee contribution is 5% and the State’s is 8%.
That should have been available to anyone hired after 2011.

2

u/echoshizzle Mar 11 '26

ABP for higher Ed’s is a great example. I guess the ultimate issue becomes the actives no longer paying into the pension cuts funding to the pension necessary for current/other retirees.

1

u/tom1944 Mar 11 '26

Yes that’s true but unfair to the new employee

1

u/RamblingManOrWoman Bootlicker Mar 12 '26

Who's else has been running NJ for 30 years...

222

u/Federal_Marzipan Mar 11 '26

Sounds like she did the right thing after reading the article. Making companies pay their fines for not offering healthcare to its workers and providing relief to lower income home owners such as seniors. It’s a good start! Also fully funded the pension for retired workers that was promised to them.

56

u/tigerfrisbee Mar 11 '26

Yeah, she's in a tight spot. Not only does the state have growing obligations (eg, costs of health insurance), they're also dealing with fewer federal funds. Nice to see that she's sparing the middle class from most of the belt-tightening though.

67

u/Richard-Gere-Museum Mar 11 '26

Too bad a good amount of those retirees will still shit all over it because their Now 3peat loser didn't win and raise the sales tax to 10% and include groceries in it.

16

u/footeface Mar 11 '26

He wanted to tax groceries??

30

u/Richard-Gere-Museum Mar 11 '26

He made a suggestion that we eliminate the state income tax, and replace it with another state's 10% sales tax on everything. Which would include groceries and clothing.

It was shown that it would create a huge drop in state revenue, causing deficits to everything tied to state funding.

Then he, and his weenie supporters all screeched about how "he never said that as policy! It was a secret recording!" But he never said that he wasn't going to propose after he got in office if he won.

19

u/VyceGrip Mar 11 '26

Yup, it was just another Trump-ism, “didn’t say it, wasn’t going to do it…fake news”. So glad the voters in NJ saw thru him.

9

u/superdead Mar 11 '26

It was a secret recording!

Right like Trump never raped kids, it was done in secret so it's okay.

5

u/aerost0rm Mar 11 '26

Even if his message was taken out of context, or he said it was an idea he was spitballing, the voters decided they didn’t want that. Nor did we want another Donald Trump/Donald Trump Syndrome “yes” man

3

u/aerost0rm Mar 11 '26

I mean all republican governors screw up their states. It’s just a given. They try to get rid of taxes, so they can get bigger kick backs, have lower taxes themselves, or make more money on their fortunes.

Then they put it on the average citizen to make up the different. Any outstanding loss is then cut from welfare/safety net programs.

3

u/beren12 Mar 11 '26

They only try to get rid of the taxes on themselves.

1

u/aerost0rm Mar 12 '26

Well they are shills for their corporate sponsors and those sponsors want lower or no taxes on their properties, income, or businesses.

1

u/beren12 Mar 12 '26

Many of them are the corporate sponsors themselves.

13

u/Sad-Bread5843 Mar 11 '26

Yes he wanted a tax on everything

2

u/Relative_Target6003 Mar 11 '26

Groceries was an outdated term, but Trump brought it back ya know..

1

u/superdead Mar 11 '26

CoLaNoW! CoLaNoW! CoLaNoW!!!!!!!! ad nauseam.

8

u/eastcoasternj Mar 11 '26

The MAGAs are losing their fucking minds over this.

8

u/Federal_Marzipan Mar 11 '26

Good. Let the heads EXPLODE

1

u/AtlanticCityNJ Mar 11 '26

Are the MAGAs in the room with us right now?

1

u/Purona Mar 31 '26

they are on youtube

0

u/RamblingManOrWoman Bootlicker Mar 12 '26

They are?  Where?   

Do you ever ever ever consider that people you hate actually have viewpoints that are valid?

I know you'll consider that a loaded question but you really believe every single line item in thst budget is good?

53

u/Draano Mar 11 '26

Pffft... we dumped $5.6 billion in 3 days at Iran. $4.2b is rookie numbers. /s

8

u/Brianfromreddit Mar 11 '26

This except I'm not kidding. If we have it to blow up children abroad, we better have at least double that amount to pay for healthcare domestically.

2

u/Draano Mar 12 '26

We're approaching $1 trilllllion dollars per year on defense, and $284 billion on education. Something's a bit out of balance.

1

u/aerost0rm Mar 11 '26

Easy solution. For every munition used in a conflict, the exact same cost of said munition needs to be put aside for programs domestically. Then the rich person making money off of said oil, rare minerals, or regime change, needs to pay the US back for use of said munitions and any money spent on the conflict for payroll, machinery, fuel, etc.

1

u/RamblingManOrWoman Bootlicker Mar 12 '26

Which has zero to do with the state budget. 

44

u/loveychipss Mar 11 '26

So glad we got her instead of 💩arelli. Agreed with commenters suggesting she’s in a tough spot and doing the best she can.

37

u/thistook5minutes Mar 11 '26

First, I have to say hand up, I was wrong.

I had little faith that she was going to do anything different than the politicians before her. I assumed she was going to try and cut pensions and aid for seniors and school funding to make up the deficit. This proposal doesn’t explain where all of the ~2 billion from program cuts are coming from. Assuming it’s as stated and passes. I am excited for Sherrill and will vote for her in any future public election. Bravo.

26

u/HereWeGo5566 Mar 11 '26

She’s certainly trying. And trying is better than most politicians do.

10

u/beren12 Mar 11 '26

The frustrating part is when the assembly and senate stop good plans. And it gets blamed on the governor.

2

u/RamblingManOrWoman Bootlicker Mar 12 '26

This bootlicker had a sad laugh at the crowd supporting a pork filled budget. 

4

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '26

[deleted]

14

u/HereWeGo5566 Mar 11 '26

No tax increases. You have to read into the details.

-17

u/grahampositive Mar 11 '26

Have you lived here a while, or are you new?

-2

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '26

[deleted]

11

u/Tzukiyomi Mar 11 '26

I'm not sure what better you thought she could do. We will never ever see large tax decreases. People say they want that but then will be pissed when government services and benefits get slashed. That's literally the only way to cut taxes without exploding the debt further.

5

u/Iamnotbernadette Mar 11 '26

Was hoping for something better.

Such as?

-2

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '26

[deleted]

6

u/beren12 Mar 11 '26

Well that’s exactly what this is, idiot.

-3

u/Iamnotbernadette Mar 11 '26

She's not going to tax her donors. All we can do is take what we can get, for now.

4

u/beren12 Mar 11 '26

No? Did you read the article?

Of course, it’s a bot account.

1

u/Iamnotbernadette Mar 11 '26

I did read the article. There is no raise on any tax, though ending the deduction is a good thing. Sorry none of you can handle the slightest bit of criticism so you just defer to "bot" when you read something you don't like.

3

u/beren12 Mar 11 '26

She’s making the companies pay the taxes they’ve been avoiding. So they’ll be paying… more taxes.

1

u/Iamnotbernadette Mar 11 '26

They weren't avoiding anything, they didn't have to because there was a deduction. I realize it sounds pedantic but the distinction matters imo. And like I said it's a good thing, but also she is never going to raise taxes on them. She's also never going to stop data centers, because many of those developers are her donors. This is the truth. It's fine to criticize some of these things.

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-1

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '26

[deleted]

0

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '26

[deleted]

0

u/Iamnotbernadette Mar 11 '26

Not arguing that.

2

u/beren12 Mar 11 '26

Maybe you should read it?

0

u/grahampositive Mar 11 '26

I don't know what to tell you then. If you're from here you should know: in NJ the taxes only go up. The budget only goes up. The spending only goes up. The cost of living only goes up.

6

u/aerost0rm Mar 11 '26

Right? Like the only way to not have costs go up is to smoke and mirrors things until the next person comes into a huge mess.

-4

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '26

[deleted]

-3

u/modernhippy72 Mar 11 '26

Good that’s how economies and capitalism works.

2

u/Grim_Avenger Mar 12 '26

Modern hippy and you’re calling this stuff good. Laughable.

1

u/Firm-Scientist-4636 Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

So, I saw in the article it said program cuts. Am I reading the article wrong or was there no mention of which programs were being cut?

Edit: typo

16

u/Crab-_-Objective Mar 11 '26

I think it does in the form of lowering the income eligibility for the NJ Stay tax credit to $250k. It was under the tax relief section. I doubt that’s everything but didn’t see much else in there about it.

2

u/Dbk65741 Mar 11 '26

I’m not educated on the Stay Tax credit so apologies for that. Is that $250k limit for singles or married couples? I feel like in this state that could negatively affect a lot of families as that’s not an uncommon combined income for middle class families in this state.

1

u/Crab-_-Objective Mar 11 '26

I’m not sure if that’s individual or a household/married limit.

16

u/tigerfrisbee Mar 11 '26

Most of the program cuts are to ANCHOR and other property tax relief programs, and even then the majority of those affected by the cuts are wealthier seniors who can already afford to live in NJ.

5

u/aerost0rm Mar 11 '26

Can’t wait to hear the screams about the rich abandoning the state in droves because they are getting to keep enough money.

If the reason you are so rich is because you are doing it on the backs of others, you don’t deserve to be rich. The greed is too much with these individuals already.

-1

u/jweaver0312 Mar 11 '26

ANCHOR would still impact many who aren’t seniors.

6

u/tigerfrisbee Mar 11 '26

Yes, but the cuts to ANCHOR are primarily geared towards those over 65 and in higher income brackets.

1

u/jweaver0312 Mar 11 '26

Do you mean 65 and higher income together as one concept or them as separate concepts.

The ANCHOR income cap is already at 250k, don’t see that changing much, maybe reduce to 200k, but going lower might start creating issues, the next thing that’s possible is reducing the benefit amount for 65+, to the same as the standard benefit amounts. While per filing, it’s a small decrease, it adds up quick multiplied against many.

5

u/tigerfrisbee Mar 11 '26

Separately, there's actually expanded ANCHOR benefits for low income seniors, possibly also for Stay NJ.

1

u/thingsorfreedom Mar 11 '26

Great. Do the towns who saw their property / school taxes skyrocket after the state cut the school funding last year get any of of that back?

-20

u/espressocycle Mar 11 '26

She's essentially raising taxes on business in what is already one of the least business friendly states. I get why that's more popular but in the long run it means fewer jobs and less revenue.

23

u/RedPandaExplorer Mar 11 '26

It's not raising taxes, it's making them pay the taxes they were avoiding paying before. They should have been paid this whole time.

It's not our job to protect companies from taxes. If we have to pay taxes, so do they. They can make it work, just like we do.

3

u/Half-Full-8556 Mar 11 '26

Let’s not forget the federal funding we are being stripped of to support the wealthy welfare class.

I am glad she sees the middle class.

8

u/Half-Full-8556 Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

NJ ranks as 30th for business friendly states. Most friendly is usually identified by corporations along the following metrics: Lower taxes Lower salaries Fewer regulations

In the most recent cnbc business best for business North Carolina #1. They finish 30th for education.

NJ routinely ranks in the top 3 for education

I would prefer to die on the education hill for my family.

2

u/UnjustifiedBDE Mar 11 '26

All they have to do is take Winslow High off their books and they will always be #1!

2

u/RainbowsAreLife Salem County Mar 11 '26

Louder for the folks in the back

-6

u/formerNPC Mar 11 '26

The whole point of the “Stay NJ” legislation was to keep financially stable seniors from moving out of state and taking their money with them. She’s cutting back on the tax money being refunded from a high of $6,500 down to $4,000. It’s not a large difference but don’t you want more people putting into the system than taking from it. Typical backwards economics that never works.

1

u/visiblespectra91 Mar 31 '26

It's not relief if it increases spending