Senate, Assembly schedules may be diverging on budget vote

The budget committees of the New Jersey State Senate and Assembly were both scheduled to hold a vote today on the as-yet-unreleased Fiscal Year 2024 state budget, but it’s sounding like only one of them may actually stick to that schedule.

Asked about her committee’s plan for holding a vote, Assembly Budget Chair Eliana Pintor Marin (D-Newark) sounded pessimistic about the possibility of it happening today.

“I would be very, very surprised if we have it ready for today,” Pintor Marin said.

But in the Senate, Democrats are still signaling that they want to push the bill through tonight. Senate Budget and Appropriations Chair Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge) said at the beginning of today’s committee meeting – three hours ago – that “it is our intention here today to vote on a budget,” and Senate Democratic staffers say that remains the plan.

That could produce an odd split between the two chambers. If the budget is ready for the Senate committee to vote on it today, there theoretically is no reason the Assembly committee can’t vote on it as well, but Pintor Marin said she wanted to make sure her committee gets things right given the high stakes.

The budget itself isn’t likely to produce much controversy, at least among Democrats. An earlier dispute between Gov. Phil Murphy and legislative leaders over the senior property tax plan StayNJ has been resolved, and while many Republicans are likely going to vote against the budget, Democrats don’t need their votes for passage. 

Instead, the delay is likely due to the sheer administrative task of hashing out the details of a budget that involves tens of billions of dollars. The budget needs the governor’s signature by this Friday in order to avoid a state shutdown, though no one believes a shutdown is a realistic possibility.