New Jersey's bonded debt is approaching $50 billion, including the $3.7 billion the state borrowed in November when it thought COVID would wreck its revenues.
Lawmakers have begun advancing a plan offered by Gov. Phil Murphy in the proposed budget to expand income eligibility by $10,000 for PAAD and Senior Gold.
After interest-only payments are made in 2021 and 2022, yearly payments are expected to be slightly more than $500 million for the 10 years that follow.
To make up for projected declines in revenue projections, the 2021 state operating budget is balanced in part through $4.5 billion in general obligation bonds.
The state plans to borrow $4.5 billion to balance its budget and boost its surplus to $2.5 billion. Spending is higher than Gov. Phil Murphy had pitched.
It took a worldwide pandemic – plus $500 checks to middle-class families in an election year – to get a millionaires tax back on the books in New Jersey.
Business groups are hammering Gov. Phil Murphy’s budget plan over its more than $1 billion in tax hikes, two-thirds affecting the wealthy and corporations.
The Legislature begins its review of Gov. Phil Murphy’s budget Tuesday, with the typical four-month marathon turned into a sprint concluding in three weeks.