A vast majority of New Jersey voters want legislators to end the practice of adding last-minute items to the state budget, a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll found.
Among the more than 850 registered voters polled earlier this month, 80% said they either strongly support or somewhat support ending the so-called Christmas tree budget items that Gov. Mikie Sherrill has targeted. Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and the director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University, said voters also support other aspects of Sherrill’s plan to cut the state’s structural budget deficit.
The poll found more than 60% support limiting how much corporations can deduct from their state taxes as well as limiting Stay NJ property-tax relief to seniors with incomes below $250,000.
“A majority of New Jersey voters seem to be on Governor Sherrill’s side when it comes to her 2027 ‘affordability budget,’” Koning said. “Her multiyear approach to the structural deficit is almost twice as popular as the alternative of faster, deeper cuts, and voters back most of the specific items in her budget by comfortable margins.”
The poll also found majorities support her plans to increase some types of spending. Nearly 70% support increasing down-payment support for first-time homebuyers, allocating $33 million to a mental health program in schools, and making the full $7.3 billion pension payment.
The proposal to end last-minute budget items gained major support from all three groups of voters: 79% support from Democrats, 82% support from independents, and 75% support from Republicans. Some issues are more closely contested: Only 42% said they support reducing aid to four-year colleges and universities.
“The one item where Republicans align with Democrats and independents is ending the practice of adding spending items at the last minute before a budget vote,” Koning said. “That budget-process reform is the only item where partisanship is not the dominant story.”
Legislative Democrats have defended the practice, saying the budget resoultions provide key improvements to projects and districts throughout the state.
“While most of Sherrill’s budget items enjoy broad majority support, that support is being carried almost entirely by Democrats and independents,” Koning said. “A majority of Republicans are in opposition to most of these proposals, including increased school aid, the youth mental health program and the corporate tax changes.
The Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University polled 859 registered New Jersey voters from May 15 to May 19, with a margin of error of +/- 4.2 percentage points.