Senate clears budget

The state Senate passed the $58.8 billion budget in a mostly party-line 26-13 vote Monday afternoon. 

State Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge), the chair of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, said the budget, the largest in the state’s history, best prepares the state for uncertainty over federal funding. He also defended this year’s budget process, which included Friday night committee meetings to prepare the budget for Monday, arguing the Senate Budget Committee spent more than 100 hours in public hearings and that the budget does not wildly differ from the governor’s proposal earlier this year.

“What does this budget include? It includes record amounts of property tax relief. It includes fully funding the pension payment for the fifth year in a row,” Sarlo said on the floor. “Fully funding the school funding formula.”

State Sen. Robert Singer (R-Lakewood) was the sole Republican to vote for the budget.

State Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-Little Silver), the GOP budget officer, condemned the budget during the Monday afternoon session, arguing the budget is bloated. He proposed an amendment that he said would cut $300 million in unnecessary funds from the budget, but Democrats quickly voted to table the motion.

Senate Republican Leader Anthony Bucco called this year’s process a “rushed, opaque budget charade.”

Spectators at one point disrupted the Senate session, yelling to demand that legislators send opioid settlement-related money to programs to help those struggling with addiction rather than to hospitals. Attorney General Matt Platkin made a similar demand earlier this morning. The disrupting spectators were removed.

State Sen. Andrew Zwicker (D-South Brunswick) voted for the budget, but said future budgets should fully invest in the state’s clean energy fund.

This story is developing.